


You're a wanker number eleven

by Krashlynpride



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F, Imagine Me And You AU, flower shop au, krashlyn - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-08
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2018-10-29 08:33:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 25,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10850301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Krashlynpride/pseuds/Krashlynpride
Summary: The flower shop/Imagine me and you Krashlyn au that nobody asked for.Ali Krieger and Ashlyn Harris both go to Penn State, Ali is one of the school's star soccer players, while Ashlyn works at a flower shop and only plays recreationally due to nagging injuries. As their paths keep crossing, will Ash be able to woo the soccer star, or will she end up missing her shot?





	1. Welcome to the flower shop

**Author's Note:**

> So I decided to get back into writing, it's been a while. What better way than to start writing about Krashlyn? If you wanna talk to me about this AU, then hit me up on tumblr @ Krashlynpride. I love talking about them and the rest of the uswnt gals. I hope you all like it, please review it or talk to your friends about it. I would love feedback. Also sorry if it's not the best, I need to hire myself a beta-reader. - Becks.

Flowers were beautiful, they would go through a cycle of death and rebirth, wilting and reblooming when the right time came. Ashlyn Harris could relate to that, she had been a phenomenal soccer player in high school, but after tearing her ACL for the second time her senior year she had lost her chance of ever turning pro. That didn't mean she had given up on the game though, the sophomore at Penn State had decided to play for a recreational team, and for her college when they did intramural sports. She always tried to participate and keep active, she didn't want to give up soccer completely. 

However school was expensive and that was why she had agreed to work at a family friend's flower shop about a mile from the campus. She loved the smell of the flowers, and seeing regular customers come in always brought a smile to her face. Sometimes it was hard balancing the work schedule with her school work, but she always managed. 

Today was a slow day for the twenty year old. She was just working on some English homework when she heard the bell chime as somebody entered the flower shop. Ashlyn looked up, a fake smile plastered to her face.  
"Hello welcome to the Mayflower florist shop. How can I assist you today?" The words were out of Ashlyn's mouth, before she had even really gotten a look at the person who entered the shop. The blonde worker's eyes landed on a brunette girl who looked to be about her age. 

The brunette was looking slightly uncomfortable, and chewing on her bottom lip as she looked around at all the flowers. At the sound of Ashlyn's voice, the girl's eyes snapped to her. 

"I...I need some help. I am trying to find some flowers for my coach. He's retiring from coaching the children's summer program and I want to send him and his wife off with a bouquet." The girl shifted slightly from where she stood awkwardly by some flowers. Ashlyn thought it was kind of cute, she was used to fumbling fuck boys trying to buy flowers for their girlfriends, so this was a nice break from the typical monotony of the day. 

Ashlyn moved from behind the counter and gathered a cheap little vase so she could help her pick out some flowers. She began looking through her massive array of flowers before she smiled, picking up a few different yellow colored flowers. "How about a few of these? This one is a chrysanthemum, it means many things but among them is joy and a long life." She held out the flower to the other woman and smiled. 

The girl's nose crinkled lightly as she smiled, taking the flower. Ashlyn felt her heart flutter almost painfully in her chest. Pretty girls were her weakness and the girl was certainly gorgeous. "I'm Ashlyn." 

"Oh um, I'm Ali. Ali Krieger." Ali gave a soft little smile, and then gestured to the other flowers in Ashlyn's hand. "What about those, they are pretty. What do they mean?" 

"Well Ms. Krieger, this other yellow one is a daffodil, it symbolizes regard and chivalry which if your coach was important to you then this is a perfect one. It also is rumored to stand for rebirth, new beginnings and eternal life." Ashlyn had read up a lot on her flowers, mostly because working in a flower shop required some knowledge about the products she was selling. 

Pursing her lips, Ali stared at the flowers before nodding. "Alright I will take a couple of each. I like those, could you maybe write down the meanings too. I think my coach would get a kick out of it." 

Giving a tiny nod Ashlyn began to ring up the flowers and the little vase for Ali. "You did want the vase right?" Ash asked, realizing she hadn't asked the brunette. 

"Oh yeah, I'd probably need it." Ali mumbled shyly. The girl wasn't sure why the florist was being so kind, she knew it was probably to do with good customer service, but Ashlyn hadn't really broken eye contact since noticing her. 

Ashlyn then wrote down the flowers' meanings on a piece of paper. She hesitated and then scribbled her number down as well. "In case you have any questions or anything." She added, as Ali paid for the flowers. 

Ali blushed and took the flowers and Ashlyn's number. "Oh um, thank you. I will message you if I do have any questions." She looked a tad nervous, but then without a second thought she turned on her heels and left the flower shop. 

Ashlyn sat back down on her chair, and sighed. At least she had got to see a cute girl, she had a feeling however that maybe if she was lucky she would see the brunette again someday. There was a vibe about Ali, and while Ashlyn couldn't place it, she felt drawn to her.  
\---  
Ali was almost late getting back to the stadium, which was such a rare occurrence for her. She was always on time, always early when she could help it. She was a perfectionist and she wanted to do the best that she could to be a leader for her team. She was carrying in the vase full of flowers toward the locker room when she almost bumped into her friend Sydney Leroux. 

Sydney glanced at the flowers and then smirked a little. "Are those for me, or are you asking somebody else out Princess?" Syd joked, the darker skin girl giving her thousand watt smile. 

Flushing a little Ali shook her head. "Nah these are for coach and his wife. I wanted to tell him thank you for teaching us for so long. I'm really going to miss him." Ali admitted, giving a tiny bit of a frown. 

Syd shrugged and then looked to the card that was attached to the flowers. "Looks like the florist gave you their number, were they cute?" 

Ali felt like all the air had been knocked out of her, and offered up an attempt at a shrug. "The girl was kind of cute, but you and me both know that my focus is on soccer right now." She mumbled, trying to think of a way to get the conversation off of herself. Ali could be outgoing, but she did like to keep some things private including who she was really into. 

"Well you could always use more friends Princess." Syd gave her a little nudge and then stepped aside to let Ali go into the locker room and change for practice. 

Ali changed into her soccer jersey and shorts, but her mind drifted to the blonde florist. The florist had seemed to be kind, and had really beautiful eyes. Ali knew that maybe Syd was right and it would pay off to have some other friends that weren't just at school or on the soccer team.  
\---  
It was a few hours later that Ashlyn was closing up the shop. She was tired and kind of dirty since a bag of fertilizer had ripped opened and spilled on her. She wanted to go home and clean herself off in her apartment that she shared with a few friends. She knew Whitney and Crystal would get a big kick out of her being all dirty, or they'd at least make her clean herself off before she touched anything. She was just about to lock up for the night when she felt her phone buzz. 

She wasn't expecting any messages and she almost ignored it, but at the last second she figured it could be one of her friends asking her to pick up some milk or something. She checked her phone and realized she didn't know the phone number. Looking confused she opened it and then gave a tiny smile as she saw a picture of the girl that had come in earlier with an older couple.  
_  
'Hey thank you for helping me with the flowers, my coach and his wife appreciated them. - Ali.'_

Ashlyn smiled softly to herself, her eyes carefully roaming over the details of the picture. Even sweaty the girl looked beautiful, and seeing her in a soccer uniform only made Ashlyn crush a little harder.  
_  
'I am glad they liked your gift. If you need any more flowers, just let me know. I'm always happy to help – Ashlyn'_

Satisfied with her message and realizing that she would probably never really see the girl again, Ashlyn pocketed her phone. It would be a nice story to at least tell her roommates. She had a feeling however that they would probably just tease her about it, and then the story would fall to the wayside. Closing up the shop Ashlyn headed home, and showered. Her mind drifting to the cute brunette named Ali. Ash hoped to see her again, at least some day in the future.


	2. Be sure to tip the roommate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finding out you have friends in common can be helpful but also lead to interesting situations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here is chapter 2, with a healthy dose of some Whitney Engen because I love her and Ash's friendship. I hope you enjoy it, come talk to me about it on tumblr @krashlynpride

It was a couple days later that Ashlyn sat relaxing on her couch. She hadn't talked to the brunette girl who had come for flowers, and truthfully Ali had been slowly slipping to the back of her mind. There had been a lot going on work so Ashlyn was occupied with other thoughts. 

She was just starting to doze off on the couch when she heard the front door open. She lifted her head to see her roommate and best friend Whitney Engen walking through the door. Whitney played soccer at Penn State and so sometimes it was later when she got home. Ashlyn wished she could play, but she knew she would have to live vicariously through her best friend. 

"Hey Whit, how was practice?" Ashlyn asked the other blonde, looking her over. 

Whitney groaned and flopped down on the couch, laying her head on Ashlyn's lap, and mumbled something into her stomach. 

Ashlyn wrinkled her nose and shook her head. "You stink Whit, go take a shower and then tell me what is wrong." 

Grumbling and not at all happy, Whitney got up and quickly took a shower. When she came back out, Ashlyn had made her a nice cold glass of water and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. 

"Alright so tell me what happened." Ash mused, giving the girl a small smile. She loved her best friend and she wanted to know all about her day. 

Whitney took a drink of her water and then sat down to begin her story. "Well ever since the coach is retired we have a new coach named Jill. She is a pain in the ass sometimes, and she doesn't know how to be nice. I think she feels like she has to be really stern to get us to listen, but I was a minute late and she made me run two miles." 

Frowning, Ashlyn placed a hand on her friend's shoulder. She knew that was rough to have to deal with a coach like that. "I'm sorry Whit." 

"She also picks favorites and it's dividing the team." Whit was a little unhappy about that. She liked the dynamic that the team had. She nibbled on her sandwich, clearly stewing in her own anger.

The blonde florist hated seeing her best friend so down in the dumps. She was trying to think of a way to help Whitney get out of the slump when an idea hit her. "Hey, why don't you invite some of the girls over here? You could have a team bonding thing at the house. We can drink, and they can spend the weekend." Ash offered softly. She was always willing to try and meet some of the other girls, she knew a view of them. 

"Uh...I don't know." Whitney wasn't too sure about that. She had a feeling the party could get out of control, and she wasn't really a rule breaker. 

"Oh come on Whit, we're in college. You gotta have a little fun. We'll have a party this weekend, just invite some of the girls." Ash said, gently nudging her before getting up from her seat and heading to the fridge. 

Whitney thought about it, chewing on the inside of her cheek before shrugging. "Alright I'll invite the gals, but be prepared to kick some of them out if a fight starts," Whit mumbled, before finishing her sandwich and heading to her room. 

\----- 

Practice was ending for Whitney the next day and she was chilling with her teammates by the water fountain. She was all sweaty but she knew she had to invite some of the other girls to her house for a party later or else Ashlyn would never let her hear the end of it. 

"Hey... um, guys? I was wondering if you any of you would like to come to my house for a party this weekend. My roommate thought it would be a good idea, and it would allow us all to destress and bond." Whitney said, trying to force her voice not to shake. She was good friends with some of them, but still talking in front of all of them, and calling attention to herself was not her forte. 

Christen Press glanced up from her position on the grass, where she was still stretching out. Christen was overly attentive to her body's need to stretch out. However, the girl rarely got injured so it must have been working for her. "Team bonding could be fun, will there be activities?" 

Whitney crinkled her nose and shrugged. "Um, well I mean I have some Halloween face painting stuff, so we could do that. I could think of something." She would have to talk to Ashlyn but she wasn't opposed. 

Some of the other teammates mumbled that they were in and Whit seemed relieved. She glanced to one of her favorite teammates Ali and smiled widely. "You in Kriegs?" 

Ali hesitated and then gave a nod. "Yeah I could use a break, between practicing and finals, I haven't really had fun in a while." 

Whit lit up and gave her a thumbs up. "Alright, you all can come to my house, be there on Friday night at seven. If you need to stay over, just pack some extra clothes. My roommate won't care, she's pretty chill with whatever." 

\--- 

It was the night of the party and Ashlyn was running late. She knew Whitney was going to kill her, but some customers had ordered flowers late. They had offered a hundred dollars as a tip if Ashlyn could drive the flowers after hours to a medical building. Apparently, it was a couple's anniversary and the husband wanted the wife to know she was loved. Ashlyn normally wouldn't have done it, but a hundred bucks was too good to pass up. Besides, while she wouldn't admit it, the blonde was a hopeless romantic at heart. 

Making her way to the apartment, she could hear the music already playing. She knocked on the door, her arms full of groceries. She had even brought Whitney six flowers as an apology. She hoped her best friend would forgive her. 

However the person that opened the door was not Whitney, but rather the customer from the flower shop. Ashlyn started at Ali, almost in disbelief that the brunette was in her house. 

"Flower girl, I remember you." Ali said, lighting up as she noticed the flowers in Ashlyn's hand. It didn't help that Ash was still in her work uniform. 

"Oh um, yeah. Is Whit around?" Ash was clearly struggling to find the words she wanted to say. She was in shock about Ali being there, she hadn't thought that she'd run into her that soon. 

Ali gave a friendly smile and turned to find Whitney. "Hey Whit, there is a girl from the flower shop with a delivery from you." Ali pulled out her wallet to tip Ashlyn for the delivery. "How much do I owe you, you can just give me the flowers." She pressed the money into Ashlyn's hand and took the flowers. 

Ashlyn looked utterly confused as Ali tried to hand her the money. "What are you doing in my house-?" 

It was then that Whitney walked over and wrapped an arm around Ashlyn's shoulder. "You're late!" She grumbled, dragging her into the party. 

"Why are you making the florist party with us?" Ali questioned as she stepped aside, wondering why Whit was being all familiar with the blonde. 

"Ashlyn meet my teammate Ali. Kriegs this is my roomie and best friend Ashlyn." Whit explained, thinking that the other two girls were being weird. 

"Roomie?" 

"Teammate?" 

The two girls stared at each other before Ali started to blush. "Oh my god I just tried to tip you, and you live here." 

Ashlyn laughed softly at the absurdity of the interaction. "Yeah, I live here. You can have your money back." She thought the other girl was kind of cute. 

Ali only blushed harder and took the money back. She felt like she should just wait for the ground to open up and swallow her whole. She was bright red as she mumbled an apology and abruptly left. 

"Do you two know each other?" Whitney asked, looking into Ashlyn's eyes. Then it dawned on Whitney, how Ashlyn would know Ali. "You hooked up with her before haven't you?!" 

Ashlyn gently punched Whitney in the arm and glared at her. "No, we haven't hooked up! She's the girl from the flower shop I told you about." 

Whitney giggled and rolled her eyes. "You mean the one you couldn't shut up about? You have a crush on Princess Krieger?" 

Ash attempted to punch her in the arm again, but Whit caught her hand and continued laughing. "Oh god, I am pretty sure she's straight Ash but you're more than welcome to make friends with her." Whit rolled her eyes and walked off still laughing at Ashlyn's misfortune.

The blonde former keeper sighed and buried her face in her hands. That was her luck that the girl was probably straight. She headed to her room, deciding to at least change out of her work uniform and fix her makeup. She wanted to have friends with the other people on the team and maybe make friends with Whitney's friends. 

A few hours later and Ashlyn was sitting on the couch talking with Tobin Heath. The other girl was pretty chill and Ashlyn was trying to recruit her for an intramural soccer team. She was pretty sure they could win the league if they had somebody chill like Tobin. 

"I don't know I am pretty busy but when it gets closer to the time I will check it out. I love playing though so it's a strong maybe." Tobin couldn't say no to playing. She lived with a soccer ball close by. 

Ali who was just walking by to refill her drink, overhead the conversation. She glanced at the blonde and arched a brow. "You play soccer?" 

Ashlyn glanced to her and nodded. "Yeah I use to be a keeper for my high school team, I would have been recruited to play here with Whitney, but I tore my ACL for the second time in high school and just couldn't make a good enough come back." She explained, her hand drifting and rubbing at her knee on impulse. 

The brunette defender frowned, she had seen a lot of girls go down with ACL injuries. She sat down across from Ashlyn, deciding that she wanted to have a good conversation with her. She still felt bad for earlier in the evening. 

"You are better now though?" Ali asked, looking at the girl's knee. 

Ashlyn nodded and cleared her throat. "So your coach, the one who retired was for the college team?" She asked trying to change the conversation to something other than her knee. 

"Yeah, it sucks. I wish he would come back, but now we are stuck with Coach Ellis, and she's putting us through the wringer." Ali explained, before taking a sip of her drink. She found herself wanting to know more about Ashlyn. She watched her over the rim of her glass trying to get to know her. "Want to play a get to know you game?" 

Ashlyn chewed on the inside of her cheek before she shook her head. "Why ruin all my mystery in one night. Tell you what, you can ask me three questions and I will answer them honestly. Then if you ever see me again, you can ask three more." She fixed the girl with a playfully gaze, clearly challenging her. 

Ali pouted but then nodded. "Okay, the same goes for you. Three get to know you questions. First one, how long have you and Whitney known each other?" Ali asked, very curious about that. 

Smirking at the question Ashlyn shook her head. "Whitney and I have been best friends since probably Freshman orientation. I picked her up at the airport and we started rapping to Bone Thugs-n-Harmony." Ash loved her best friend, and she was just glad she was around. "We moved into together at the end of last year. We have another roommate, but she's out of town. Her name is Erin McLeod." 

Ali's eyes widened. "As in Erin McLeod the Canadian keeper for their national team?" 

Ash winked at her. "Is that question number two and yes. She's at a camp right now, so she's not here. Otherwise, she'd be at the party here. She's starting at the college next semester." 

"Wait! That wasn't question number two..damn it." Ali was shocked, she didn't know that Erin McLeod was going to go to the same school as them. 

Shrugging Ashlyn held up one finger. "You get one more question beautiful." She mused, not failing to notice the way that Ali's cheeks lit up. 

"Um... what is your favorite animal?" 

Ashlyn burst into laughter at the silly question. "Sharks, I love them." She replied, before standing up. She stuffed her hands in her pockets. "Well you've hit your limit for questions, so I guess you'll just have to wait until next time to ask me more." Ashlyn wanted to keep some mystery about herself. She checked her watch and realized that she had an early morning meeting. "I'm heading to bed, it was great to see again Ali." 

Ali nodded and gave a little wave. "Good to see you too, sleep well." Ali watched Ashlyn leave to her room and then slumped back against the couch. Of course, Whitney would have a hot roommate and a soccer prodigy as her roommates.


	3. Your pining is ridiculous Kriegs, pull yourself together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Whitney is getting really tired of Ali being obsessed with Ashlyn. Like pull yourself together girl, you need to just chill.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the filler chapter, but it's necessary to set up what I want to happen in the next chapter. Also Ali pining is super cute, but also Whit is just like 'Girl I know Ash is a babe, but come on. Have some dignity.'

"You know it's almost really fucking unfair that you have a hot roommate and a soccer legend in your house." 

Whitney looked over at Ali, laughing at the fact that the girl was complaining after a long workout. Whit didn't even feel like she had the energy to complain, after losing a game to one of their rivals, Jill had been making them run an extra mile every day. 

Ali took a swig of her water, gargling before spitting it out. She sat down on the ground and huffed as she began to untie her cleats before flopping back on the grass close to where her other teammates had all fallen from exhaustion. Jill was running them ragged and quite honestly Ali was tired too, but she was letting her complaining distract her. 

Ali stared up at the sky and then black over to Whitney. "Seriously though, how did you get a prodigy and a goddess as your roommates?" She grumbled. 

The blonde laughed bitterly and took her water bottle squirting some at Ali who squeaked as she tried to get away. "Will you stop obsessing about my roommates. If you want to meet Erin so bad I'll introduce you, and stop crushing on my bestie. It's weird." Whit was getting a little sick of love-struck Krieger. She knew Ali wasn't the first to fall under the spell of Ashlyn, but she wasn't here to play matchmaker. Whitney Engen was protective over Ash, she didn't want her best friend to get hurt by her teammate. Not only would it make things awkward, but Whit didn't want to have to hate Ali if the girl broke Ashlyn's heart.

Ali wiped the water from her face and shot Whitney a pout, before getting up. Okay, so maybe she had been trying to pump Whit for information, but she was intrigued by Ashlyn. There was just something about the florist and Ali felt drawn to it. 

The defender headed to the locker room and showered. When she felt like she was cleansed from the grueling practice, she headed out to her car to drive back to the dorms. However sitting in a jeep was Ashlyn, clearly waiting for Whitney. She had her eyes closed and was rocking out to some song. 

Smirking Ali walked over, watching as the car seemed to shake from how loud the music was. She managed to get up to the window unseen and then slapped her hand against it. Ashlyn caught the movement out of the corner of her eye and jolted in fear. 

Unable to help herself Ali burst into laughter, almost rolling on the ground in amusement. The look of horror on Ash's face and the fact that Ali had actually managed to startle her was just too much. 

Ashlyn huffed and turned down her music, before rolling down her window. "You know that was hella rude." She grumbled, giving her a dirty look. "You could have given me a heart attack." 

"Oh I am sure." Ali burst into another fit of giggles. 

The blonde found her laughter contagious but managed to bit the inside of her cheek hard enough that she suppressed her smile. Ashlyn gave the player a once over, noting the fact that her hair was wet and her skin still looked a bit damp. 

Arching a brow Ash smirked. "Do you always startle girls sitting in the parking lot?" 

"Depends on if they are cute or not." Ali fired back, before giving a shrug. "Plus I couldn't very well pass up the opportunity to ask you another three questions." 

Ashlyn groaned and laid her head against the steering wheel. "Alright go ahead then." 

Tapping her chin thoughtfully, Ali stopped to consider the questions. She hadn't planned on needing to have questions prepared for after practice, but back in her dorm, she had a few binder pages filled with questions for the blonde. She really wanted to get to know her, wanted to know what made Ashlyn tick. 

Ashlyn was starting to think that Ali didn't actually have any question, but then the brunette seemed to think of one. "Favorite place in the world?" 

A fond little look seemed to fill Ash's face as she thought about it. "I used to think it was being in goal during a game, but lately my favorite place is sitting on the roof of the tallest building that faces the ocean back home. Watching the sun setting out on the water. God, it's just so beautiful." 

The thought did sound appealing, and Ali could almost picture it. The girl loved sunsets because they weren't just an ending but they were a promise of a new beginning. She loved the way that Ashlyn seemed to glow when she talked about it.

Ali realized she was staring and cleared her throat. It was getting hot out and she didn't want to be all sweaty in front of Ashlyn. "Second question, the best vacation you ever took." 

That was an easy one for the former keeper, and she couldn't help but look downright tickled at the memory she was reliving. "It was a camping trip with Whit and some other girls. We were camping and booked a hotel, and there was only one bed. It was the greatest night of my life, we didn't even sleep. We stayed up all night just talking about light-hearted stuff and drinking hot chocolate." Letting out a contented sigh Ash turned her attention to Ali. Just beyond Ali, she could see Whitney starting to exit the building. 

"One more question superstar." 

Ali felt like ice water had hit her, she couldn't think of another question. Her jaw dropped, and she began stammering before she noticed a decal on Ash's car. "You watch soccer leagues around town?" 

Ash was surprised by the question but nodded. "Sometimes, my friend Allie Long plays for an indoor team, so I go and support her. Maybe you can come with some time, they have a game on Sunday in the morning." 

"Oh...um yeah I'd like that." Ali nodded her head, grinning widely. "Count me in." 

It was then that Whit got over to them. "You ready to go Ashy? I'll see you later Ali." Whit couldn't hide her amusement, because of course, Ali would be talking to Ashlyn. The crush that the defender had on her bestie was starting to get just a bit sad. Whitney was hoping the girls would figure it out, mostly so she could tease them about it.


	4. you're a wanker pookie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ash and Ali go see an indoor soccer match.

"I need to call her." Ashlyn had been trying to wrestle her phone away from Whitney for the past ten minutes, but her roommate and best friend wouldn't give it up. Ashlyn wanted to text Ali and give her the details about the indoor soccer game, Whit, however, was refusing to give Ashlyn the phone. 

The blonde defender stared her best friend in the eyes, and simply shook her head. She was not going to enable Ashlyn by letting the florist call Ali at like seven in the morning. It was much too early in the morning, and Whitney wanted to be asleep. She loved her best friend a lot, but she also loved her sleep and Ashlyn was interrupting it. 

Whitney did want the two to get together but if Ash wanted to call Ali's number, then the florist was going to have to wait until a decent hour. Ali herself was probably still asleep, Whitney was wishing that she was asleep. Ashlyn had not shut up about Ali in days, and Whitney just wanted some peace and quiet.

Ashlyn gave a soft huff and then backed down. "You're lucky I got to go to work Whit, but can you just tell her where to meet for the game? Like can you text her later for me, since you refuse to give me the phone? If she comes here by nine on Saturday morning, I can drive her to the game." Ashlyn knew she had been driving Whit up the wall but she couldn't help it. She was curious about the girl. 

Whitney gave in just a little, but only because she hated to see her best friend begging. "I will tell her to meet us here," Whitney promised, tapping Ashlyn's nose. 

Swiping at Whit's hand, Ashlyn rolled her eyes and grumbled. She headed off to get ready for work, already thinking of all the time that she would get to spend with Ali. 

\--  
_On Saturday_  
Ali checked herself in the rearview mirror of her car. She was making sure her make-up was on point, the team may have called her princess but it was for a good reason. Ali took great pride in her look, and even if it was just because she was going to hang out with a cute girl, it was worth it to her to look her best. 

She felt like she needed to make a good impression on Ashlyn, she felt like she hadn't lived down trying to tip the florist at the party. Ali looked over at her passenger seat, staring at the notebook in it, before picking it up. She flipped through some of the pages, trying to pick the three questions that she was going to ask Ashlyn in an attempt to get to know her. 

She circled three that she thought was the best and then climbed from her car. She wanted to make sure that her questions weren't stupid, and that she asked them before she chickened out. 

The weather outside was a bit nippy and Ali was thankful she had brought a sweater. She wasn't sure how cold it was going to be, but as she walked up to Whitney and Ashlyn's apartment, she was sure that she'd survive. 

It only took a quick knock on the door before Ashlyn was standing before her. It was clear that Ash was fresh out of the shower, her hair was still wet, and she had tied it back in a ponytail so she wouldn't have to deal with it. 

"Hey you made it." Ash said with a friendly smile, that seemed to make her eyes light up. 

Ali merely gave a quick nod. "Yeah, I figured I wouldn't tip you this time." She joked, attempting to crack the ice. 

"As much as I love free money, I can manage my rent this month." Ash teased back, giving her a wink. She leaned back a bit into the house. "I'm leaving Whit, I'll be back in a few hours." She called, waiting until she heard a grunt in reply, before walking out and shutting the door behind her. 

Ali wrinkled her nose playfully and raised a brow. "Engen really doesn't like to be woken up on Saturdays does she?"

That just earned a laugh from the former keeper. "Nah man, for as long as I have had the privilege of knowing her, she refuses to wake up earlier than she absolutely has to on the weekends. I swear the girl could sleep through an earthquake, fire drill, and a tornado if she had to. She'd probably go beat up a burglar just for messing with her beauty sleep."

It was an amusing thought for sure, and it brought an amused look to Ali's face.

The drive to the gym was a quiet one, the two girls listened to music. Ashlyn couldn't help but rap everytime a song came on, which Ali found rather adorable. Finally, when they arrived Ashlyn turned to look at the brunette girl. 

"Okay be prepared, my friend Allie is kind of a handful. She's from New York, and she's kind of crazy but in a good way." Ashlyn warned, not wanting her new friend to be off put by one of her best friends.

Ali shrugged and gave a simple smile. She was game for whatever came her way, and as long as she was with Ash, then she knew she'd have fun. She wanted to get to know Ash, and if she had to meet some of her friends then that was fine.

As soon as the duo walked into the gym to watch the game, Ash was tackled by a rather tall blonde.

"Pooooookie." Allie Long called, launching herself into her best friend's arms. She kissed the top of her head, and affectionately snuggled into the former keeper. "I missed you!" 

Ash blushed and patted her friend's back. "Pook, this is the girl I was telling you about. Allie Long, meet Ali Krieger, Krieger this is one of my best friends Pookie." 

Ali shook the blonde's hand and gave a friendly smile. 

The blonde shook her hand and then smirked. "I like this one Pookie, you don't ever bring a girl to any of the games. Bati is gonna be so proud of you." Allie announced, pinching Ash's cheeks. She looked to the brunette, sizing her up. "The people call me La Blanquita around here."

That brought a confused look to Ali's face, which caused the other two to giggle. "It's a long story trust me, but her man Bati can probably explain it. Anyways we should grab a good seat for the game." Ash mused, taking Ali's hand and leading her up into the bleachers of the gym.

Ali tried to focus on the game, the brunette following Bati and Allie on the gym floor. The game was going pretty well, but the other team kept fouling Allie and disrespecting her because she was a girl. 

"Come on La Blanquita, kick his ass! Show him who's boss!" Ali cheered, trying to encourage Ashlyn's friend. Plus she may have been a little bias because they had the same name. 

Glancing over at the brunette, Ashlyn raised a brow. "You're kind of shrill when you yell. You want him to hear you yelling, you gotta really use your diaphragm." 

"What?!" Ali inquired, her confusion evident. She had no idea what Ashlyn was talking about. 

Ashlyn sighed and placed a hand on Ali's stomach, causing the girl to tense. "Push out your stomach, push it against my hand and yell loudly. Open your mouth and let it be a cathedral you fill with sound." 

"Okay now you've really lost me." Ali said, shaking her head.

Ashlyn frowned and looked down at the players on the floor playing soccer. She wasn't sure how to explain it to Ali, but then she saw a player foul her friend and all she saw was read. 

"Like this," Ash mumbled, setting her shoulders back and then angling her body towards the game. "You're a wanker number 9!!" She yelled out, her voice echoing around the gym. The player who had failed Allie flipped her off and jogged down the court. 

Long's eyes snapped towards her best friend and she giggled, giving Ash a thumbs up. Ash looked towards her date, to see Ali staring back at her with wide eyes. 

"Oh my god." Ali commented, shaking her head in disbelief. She felt a little embarrassed to be standing next to Ash, but it was also kind of badass. 

Ash shrugged her shoulders. "When you're from Satellite Beach, you learn how to be loud. You have to be loud, to have your voice heard." She explained, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly.

Eventually, the game was over and Ashlyn was happy. She had to get to work, so she knew she would need to take Ali back to her car. She hugged her best friend goodbye and then walked Ali to the car.

"I had a lot of fun, thank you for bringing me. I am going to have to remember how you yelled, and use it on the field." Ali said, her eyes sparkling with mischief. 

Ashlyn merely grinned. "That is one way to get a girl's attention though."

"So I didn't get to ask you any of my three questions." Ali knew that their time together was coming to an end for the day, and she was a bit disappointed. She felt like she couldn't get enough time with Ashlyn. 

Ashlyn felt kind of bad about that. "Tell you what, I'll make dinner and you can come over sometime this week, you can ask your questions then." She promised, wanting to make it up to Ali. 

The soccer player nodded and gave a soft smile. "You got yourself a deal. Thank you again." She murmured, pressing a kiss to Ashlyn's cheek, before climbing out of the car when they reached the house. "Have a good day at work." 

Ash blushed, mumbling a soft goodbye as the girl got out of the car. She had a feeling her day was only going to get better from here on out.


	5. don't go standing me up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ali gets a little mad that Ashlyn is giving her the cold shoulder and wants to know why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, it's been a few weeks since I updated this one, but here is a new chapter for all of you. I hope you like it, I am sorry that sometimes my updates aren't always the longest. I'll try to be better, but I hope the quality makes up for it.

It was not supposed to be like this, at least that was what Ashlyn Harris was thinking as she once again had to ice her knee. Once more she was in pain, she had been trying to carry some flowers for an elderly customer when it had all gone wrong. The elderly man had stopped abruptly and Ashlyn had twisted her body to avoid crashing into him. However, she had tripped over his cane and landed awkwardly on her knee right on the edge of the sidewalk curb. The scream that had left her lips was probably enough to wake the dead. 

When Whitney had finally arrived to pick her up, Ashlyn was still in tears. She wasn't the type to cry, but she couldn't help it. Her knee hurt so bad, and she just wanted it to stop. Ashlyn had canceled her planned dinner date with Ali not really giving any explanation other than that something had come up. She didn't want to worry the other girl, plus it wasn't like they really knew each other. 

Ali hated being stood up though, and she was worried. She hadn't got a chance to talk to Whitney at practice, and Ashlyn wasn't returning her text messages. Finally irritated that she was being given the cold shoulder Ali decided to just ignore the florist. If Ashlyn didn't want anything to do with her, then she wasn't going to waste her time trying. 

"Who spat in your cereal this morning?" Tobin asked as she noticed the usually happy defender being all moody and rather rude to some of the new people on the team. That definitely was not something that Ali did, the girl was competitive but she lifted people up not demolished them. 

Ali turned to Tobin a glare in her eyes but was surprised when Tobin didn't flinch away. Ali sighed and deflated a bit shrugging her shoulders. "I guess I just am in a bad mood." 

"I hadn't noticed." Tobin deadpanned, before rolling her eyes. "Come on, talk to me, Krieger. What the heck has gotten into you?" 

The brunette wrapped her arms around herself and shrugged. "It's stupid." She mumbled, glancing to the ground. 

Tobin placed a hand on her shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. "If it's bothering you, Ali, then it's not stupid. You don't have to talk about it, but if you want to I am here." The girl encouraged, she wanted Ali to know that she was there for her, no matter what. 

It actually meant a lot to Ali that Tobin was trying to be supportive of her. "It's about the florist girl." 

"You mean Ashlyn, Whitney's roommate?" Tobin asked, mostly for clarification so that they would be on the same page. 

Ali gave a nod, before sighing. "We went on a sort of date, but ever since then she's has canceled our plans and ignored my text messages. I just want to know what I did wrong." 

"Have you talked to Whitney?" Tobin was sure there was a logical reason why the florist was ignoring Ali. At the party, Ashlyn had seemed pretty chill to Tobin, and Tobs felt like she should at least give her the benefit of the doubt if Ali wasn't going too. 

The defender sighed and shook her head. "No, each time I try one of else is always busy. Plus as soon as practice is over Engen is like gone out the door before I can even get to where she is." 

Tobin pursed her lips, trying to think of a way to help Ali out. "Well, why don't you go to the flower shop? You might see Ashlyn there." She suggested, thinking that it was probably the most logical thing to do. "You can see with you own two eyes and if she's not busy you can ask her why she hasn't been returning your calls or texts." 

Ali was actually surprised by Tobin's suggestion, but she knew it was a sound one. "Alright, I guess I can go. Do you wanna come with me?" 

Cracking a smile Tobin nodded. "I can pick up some flowers for my dorm room." 

Ali snorted softly. "You mean for Alex." 

Tobin blushed and flipped her off. "Shut up Krieger." 

\---   
Even with Tobin's help it still took Ali a good twenty minutes to work up the courage to make her way inside of the flower shop. She was nervous to see Ashlyn, she didn't even know what she wanted to say. There was still a piece of her that was angry that the girl hadn't been returning her texts. Tobin had tried to tell her not to assume the worst and to give Ashlyn the benefit of the doubt. 

Ali internally cringed as she heard the door sensor chime to let whoever was working know that she was there. She heard a muffled reply from the back and prepared herself to see Ashlyn. She couldn't help but get excited for the idea that the girl was going to be there, and that they could possibly talk about whatever was going on between them. 

However the sight that greeted her was not Ashlyn, the person that came out of the back was a brunette but she did look slightly familiar. 

"Welcome, how can I help you today?" The brunette asked, the girl's accent and beautiful smile giving away who she was. 

"Oh my god you're Erin McLeod." Ali stammered out, tripping over her words. 

Erin crinkled her nose and gave a soft smile. "Didn't know I was all that famous in these parts." She joked, relaxing as she stuffed her hands into her work smock. 

Ali blinked in surprise, trying to contain herself. She knew that the Canadian player had been signed to college to play with her, but this was still shocking as hell to actually see her in the flesh. She knew Erin was Whitney and Ashlyn's roommate and her future teammate never the less she was still star struck. 

Realizing that the girl was star struck, Erin gestured to the array of flowers around them. "Did you need help picking something out?" 

"No, no I was looking for Ashlyn," Ali explained finally managing to get a grip on herself. "She works here, is she at your apartment?" 

Erin looked confused. "How do you know that Ashlyn lives in my apartment? Are you stalking me?" Erin was starting to get a little uneasy. 

Ali's eyes widened comedically and she rapidly shook her head. "No! Not at all!" She exclaimed, taking a step back. "I'm on the Penn State soccer team, your other roommate Whitney is my teammate and friend. I was looking for Ashlyn because I haven't heard from her in a few days and I was worried." Ali explained, feeling rather embarrassed. 

A look of understanding crossed Erin's face and she chuckled softly. "Ashlyn hurt her knee, so she's been kind of out of it on painkillers right now. That is probably why she hasn't been answering your text messages." 

Ali's eyes widened and she looked concerned. "Is she okay?" 

"She aggravated her old ACL injuries and tweaked something in her hip when she fell. She has a few weeks off until they figure out what to do with her. But for now, anyways she is just trying to recover." Erin explained, before tilting her head to the side. "Are you the girl that she keeps talking about, you guys went to see her friend Allie play indoor?" 

A soft smile crossed Ali's face and she nodded. "She was supposed to make me dinner, but I guess she forgot. Maybe I'll go over there and talk to her then." 

Erin giggled and pulled some flowers out of a small bucket. "We would have to get rid of these today, so why don't you take the to her. I am sure she is going to appreciate that you are coming over. Just beware she's a little out of it still." 

Ali took the flowers, giving the girl and appreciative smile. "Thank you for helping me, Erin. I can't wait to play soccer on the same team as you." Ali was still star struck but didn't want to make a fool out of herself, as she quickly exited the store.


	6. Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ali finally makes it over to Ashlyn's apartment to ask her why's she been ducking her text messages. Lots of fluffy stuff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoy the latest chapter. I love this story and I love writing it. It makes me so happy. Anyways just a heads up in case I don't get to tell you guys. I will be without the internet from like June 16-25th, I'll be in like Arkansas. So I'll try and write some new chapters for this and my other stories before then, but you might have to wait until I get back, if I don't update before then.
> 
> I love you all, thank you for your support. It means the world to me.

On the way over to Ashlyn's apartment to deliver the flowers, Ali felt like she was about to lose her nerve. If Ashlyn was injured then there was a chance that she wouldn't be in the mood for company. Ali was also relatively sure that if she showed up, Ashlyn could get mad at her. It had just been one measly date. Maybe the girl wasn't as interested in Ali as the brunette had hoped. A doctor cloud of uneasiness settled over Ali, and she rubbed the back of her arms feeling a bit nervous. 

Tobin who was still giving Ali a ride over there could tell that her friend was trapped inside of her own head. "She will be happy to see you." Tobin finally spoke up, disliking it when Ali was quiet. A quiet Ali was a very scary Ali, and Tobin wanted to avoid that at all cost. 

"How do you know?" Ali's voice betrayed her insecurity, and she felt like hiding. 

Thinking for a moment Tobin just smiled and shrugged. "It's one of those things that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt. You just know that you know. It doesn't matter what else is going on, it's one of the few things I am sure about. It's like when I play soccer, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it's what I am supposed to do." Tobin explained, unsure if that was making any sense to her friend. 

Giving a soft nod, Ali thought that she understood. "I did bring her flowers, perhaps that will win me some brownie points." She still was nervous, but thanks to Tobin she felt just a little more confident. 

Tobin pulled up outside the apartment complex and killed the engine. She turned to look at Ali and gently punched her shoulder. "Go get her tiger, and let me know if you need a ride back to campus. I'll come as soon as I can." She assured her, before giving her a light push. "Now go!" 

Ali swallowed thickly, giving herself a mental pep talk before exiting the car. It felt almost like a reverse walk of shame, as she made her way up to the apartment door. Her grip tightening and untightening on the flowers. She was Ali fucking Krieger, she didn't back down from anybody and she wasn't about to start now. She raised a hand and before she could chicken out, knocked firmly on the door. 

Inside the apartment, there was some shuffling, as well as some grunting and Ali wasn't quite sure what was going on. She hoped she hadn't caught Ashlyn at a bad time, and once more her heart was in her throat. She was turning to leave when the door finally swung open. 

"Ali?" 

Ali turned back to look at Ashlyn, and felt her stomach clench and explode with butterflies. Ashlyn had clearly been sleeping, her knee was bandaged with an icepack tapped around it. The blonde florist's voice was full of sleep, and to Ali, she looked a little dead on her feet. 

"Oh um hey, I heard you were injured so I brought you some flowers," Ali admitted sheepishly. She quickly offered up the flowers to Ashlyn, who took them and looked a bit confused. 

"You drove all this way to give me flowers?" Ashlyn inquired, rather touched by the gesture. 

Shifting uncomfortably under the weight of Ashlyn's stare, Ali glanced up at her. "Actually I went to the flower shop. I was going to ask you why you had been dodging my text messages. I wanted to know if I did something." She explained, deciding to just get it all out in the open. 

Ashlyn blinked in confusion, surprised by Ali's words. "I've been dodging your text messages? I am sorry I've kind of been out of it the past couple of days. I honestly wasn't trying to be like that. I hope you can forgive me." Ashlyn replied, a frown tugging at her lips. Ashlyn absolutely hated letting people down, and she was enjoying Ali's company. 

Ali cleared her throat in an attempt to play it cool. "It's fine, I am just glad you're okay." She mumbled sheepishly. 

Rolling her eyes Ashlyn stepped back to let Ali inside the apartment. "Come on in, you can watch some tv with me if you want. I can try and make up for you thinking I was ducking you." Ash said, trying to make herself available to assuage any worries the girl had. She laid the flowers that Ali had got her down on a counter, feeling too tired to find a vase for them now. She had a feeling that Whitney would come home and take care of it. 

The brunette walked inside the apartment and sat down on the couch, making sure to leave enough space so that Ashlyn could sit and put her leg up. "So how's your knee feeling?" 

Ashlyn relaxed into the couch and shrugged. "It hurts but I'll live. The doctor gave me some nice pain meds, so I've been kind of out of it. I hate taking meds because my family has a history of abusing pills and I don't want to wind up like them." Ashlyn absentmindedly picked at some lint on the armrest of the couch. 

"Well, I am sure Whitney and Erin would keep you on the straight and narrow if they saw you having a problem." Ali mused, trying to give her some reassurance. 

Laughing at that, Ashlyn nodded. "Whitney would kick my ass if I fucked up like that. She's probably one of the best people I know, she calms me down and has my back. We're a packaged deal I guess." 

"So if somebody wants to date you, they'd have to date Whitney to?" Ali asked, arching a brow. She meant it as a joke really, but honestly, she was a little curious. She didn't want to fall for Ashlyn if Ashlyn was in some weird love relationship with Whitney. 

Ashlyn looked grossed out by the idea of having to date Whitney. "Oh god no! That's disgusting, she's like my sister. I love her, but eew no." Ashlyn shook her head rapidly. "I mean if somebody wants to date me, they'd have to be able to handle the fact that Whitney is my best friend and part of my life. That doesn't mean I want Whit kissing my future girlfriend, why?" 

Ali felt reassured by Ashlyn's response, finding it even somewhat comical. "I guess I was just curious." She admitted. 

Ashlyn smirked at her. "Why, do you want to date me, Krieger?" She teased, wiggling her eyebrows flirtatiously. 

Ali blushed wondering how once again Ashlyn had caught her by surprise and had the upper hand. "I wouldn't be opposed to the idea of seeing you more often." 

Ashlyn couldn't help the dopey smile that crossed her features. Perhaps it was a weakness but nothing else turned her on like a girl who was vocal about what they wanted. Ashlyn adored honesty, even if the truth could hurt, she would rather have an ugly truth than a pretty lie. "Well, I think I would like to see you around too." The Florida native said with a confident little wink. 

Ali grinned back, feeling a lot better about the whole situation now that she was with Ashlyn. They were both busy people but if Ashlyn was willing to give her a shot, then she was going to take it. 

Turning her gaze away from Ali, Ashlyn leaned forward and grabbed the remote off the coffee table. "You want to watch some Psych or NCIS? I need a show that I don't have to focus all that hard on." Ashlyn admitted, feeling her pain meds starting to kick in. She was fighting a yawn as hard as she could. 

Ali was observant though and frowned. "I can let you get some sleep if you want. I can show myself out, you look tired." 

"I thought I looked stunning, don't you know the freshly woken up look is all the rage? But seriously you don't have to go, I'd like it if you stayed." Ashlyn protested, reaching out to take Ali's hand. "We can cuddle and yeah I'll fall asleep, but when I wake up again I can tell you stuff and let you ask the questions I know you've been dying to ask." The blonde honestly didn't want her to go, but she was fading fast. 

Ali scooted closer to Ashlyn. "Alright, I will stay. But you close your eyes okay. We'll watch Psych." She took the remote from Ashlyn and turned the channel to the show. Ali then grabbed a pillow and gently laid Ashlyn's head in her lap, playing with the girl's hair until she was sure Ash was fast asleep.


	7. dates under the stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some quality time under the stars.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just for you guys, I tried to give you an update before I go on vacation. I probably won't update this story until I get back after the 24th. Unless I get hit by a writing bug, I am not sure I'll be writing anything else before I leave. I will be back though.

Ashlyn felt a bit groggy and squinted against the harsh light of the tv. There was dried drool on her face, and her knee was killing her. She pushed herself up into a sitting position on the couch and looked around. The last thing that she remembered was Ali holding her while she was about to pass out. She was confused to where the soccer player was at the moment since she had woken up alone on the couch. 

"Ali?" Ashlyn called, trying to look around for the brunette girl. 

"I'm in your kitchen sorry! I was trying to heat you up some food for when you woke up." Ali called back as she walked out of the kitchen. She gave a sheepish smile and sat back down on the couch. "Are you feeling okay?" 

Ashlyn shook her head. "Not really, my knee is killing me. I'll be fine though." She rubbed her knee, trying to make the pain stop. 

Ali looked concerned and placed a hand over Ash's. "Can I get you some more medicine? What would make you feel better?" She wanted to be as supportive as she could to the girl. She wanted to be Ashlyn's friend too and yeah maybe she did have a crush on her but right now all that mattered was trying to get the girl to smile and feel better. 

"I guess I could go for some food. I can't really walk well but maybe we can go for a drive?" Ashlyn asked looking hopeful. 

"We'd have to take your car, but I don't see why not. Do you feel comfortable with me driving your car?" Ali asked, not wanting to make her uncomfortable. 

Ashlyn chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Well, as long as you promise not to get me killed I don't think I would mind. So eat first and then go for a drive?" 

Ali nodded her head. "Of course." She mused, giving her hand a gentle squeeze, before getting up to make Ashlyn a plate. 

The conversation over the impromptu lunch was nice and Ali was glad she had decided to stop by. She was enjoying the conversation that was happening between then the two of them. It felt light and even slightly out of it, Ashlyn was always ready to smile and crack a joke. That was one of the things that Ali appreciated about the blonde, she liked somebody who was funny and full of life. 

After washing the dish and putting them in the drainer to dry, Ali turned to Ashlyn and gave her a playful little smile. "So you want to go on that adventure now? I can't promise that it'll be all exiting out, it is getting a bit late." Ali checked the time and saw that it was a little after seven in the evening. 

Ever the adventure Ashlyn just smiled. "I like adventures and I think this would be a fun one to go on. Come on!" She mused, taking Ali's hand and dragging her out to the car. The sun was starting to sink down a bit. "I want to watch the sunset, and see the stars." Ashlyn pleaded it wasn't very often that she got to do that. She felt like it could be something special to do with the brunette. 

Ali crinkled her nose and smiled at her. "Alright I guess, but I don't want to freeze my ass off." She warned. 

Ashlyn's face lit up. "I am prepared for that, I have blankets in the back of my car. I have like three. One we can put on the hood, and the other two we can snuggle up with." Ashlyn mentioned, glad that she had prepared for such a thing. 

Climbing in the car Ali had to wonder if Ashlyn was just used to this sort of thing and why the girl seemed prepared for whatever situation they found themselves in. "It almost feels like a date." She mused, driving them away from Ashlyn's apartment. Ali was trying to get them away from all the light pollution to a place where they'd have a better view of the stars. 

"See I knew you wanted to date me, Krieger. It must be my charm." Ashlyn joked, that dimple of hers on full display as she flirted with Ali. 

She liked seeing the girl squirm and blush, it made her a little giddy. Ashlyn wasn't sure how to describe the connection that she felt between them. Working in a flower shop was fun, and having people to hang out with was even better. Ali was a break to the everyday grind that Ashlyn was on, and she appreciated the splash of color in an otherwise monotonous routine. 

"Oh, sure it's totally your charm that drew me to you," Ali said sarcastically. 

Ashlyn just chuckled and shrugged. "Kitty-cat has some teeth, I like that." 

Ali gently punched her arm and then climbed from the car once they were parked. "I think this is a good spot. You can see the whole sky it feels like." She announced. She could still feel a bit of the warmth from the sun as it was setting. The different shades of yellows, pinks, and oranges were breathtaking. 

Ashlyn helped her set out the blankets on the hood of the car, before moving carefully to lay back against the windshield so she could get a good view of what she hoped would be a beautiful night sky. 

"You know, my mom used to tell me that God painted the sky at night with his special paint and that's why it was so beautiful. That every night God made a unique night and that it was never completely the same in color." Ali said, moving to lay right next to Ashlyn. 

Ashlyn glanced over at her and felt her breath catch in her throat. The way that the setting sun illuminated Ali's body was breath taking and Ashlyn wanted nothing more than to kiss her in that moment. She leaned over and gently pressed a kiss to Ali's cheek, breathing in the girl's scent. 

Ali stiffened at the surprising kiss but then relaxed into the gentle affection. "What was that for?" She asked, feeling her cheeks heating up. 

"Because you're beautiful and I think I understand about God's special paint. I see it in the flowers I work with, and I see it in you." Ashlyn said, her eyes soft and full of emotion. 

The brunette blushed and turned her head, letting her lips brush against Ashlyn's lightly before pulling away. "I see it in you too," Ali promised, lifting a hand to gently caress Ashlyn's jawline, before cuddling into her to finish watching the sunset. 

The duo laid in silence for a while, and as the sun finally sank beyond the horizon and the stars began to dot the sky Ashlyn started pointing them out and naming them. Ali was rather impressed by the girl's knowledge of the stars, it was a quirky little thing and Ali felt her heart squeezing almost uncomfortably in her chest. She realized that she wanted to know all of the silly and quirky things about the florist. 

"How do you know so much about the stars?" Honestly, Ali couldn't take the suspense any longer and she wanted to know. 

Ashlyn stole a glance at her. "It's a bit of a long story." 

"Well, I am not going anywhere, Harris. Besides we got some time." Ali watched the emotion that flooded Ashlyn's face and was about to recall her question when the other woman began to speak. 

"I used to run away from home or try to anyways. My home wasn't a happy place for me a lot of times, everything was dark and I hated the dark. I used to cry whenever I went over to my grandma's house. Then one night she got me those silly, glow in the dark stars and planets for my room." Ashlyn trailed off, letting herself remember the night when she was eight years old. 

She had been crying up a storm when her grandma brought a flashlight, the fake constellation, and a book from the local library. Her grandma had given her the book to read with the flashlight under the covers. It was a book about the stars and the astronauts who explored them. 

"My grandmother got me a library card the next day, I learned about soccer, historical figures. I learned that reading could be an escape just as much as sports could. I didn't feel so lonely anymore, and I realize at a young age that I kind of had to be my own star and light up the darkness around me." Ashlyn shrugged, knowing her story wasn't the lightest. Ash knew she carried some heavy baggage, and there was a piece of her that was wondering how long it would take Ali to go running away in fear. 

Ali snuggled into her side, feeling at a loss for words. She felt like Ashlyn had bared her soul in a way, and it was endearing and scary at the same time. "You're a flicker of light amidst an ocean of darkness." She didn't know why she said it, but it felt right. 

Ashlyn shrugged and wrapped a strong arm around Ali. She pulled her close to her chest and kissed Ali's forehead. "Thank you for getting me out of the apartment. This is really nice." 

Giggling Ali leaned up to kiss her cheek. "It is, and about what you said earlier... about us maybe dating. I'd be lucky to go on a date with you." 

"I feel the same way Ali, I feel the same exact way," Ashlyn promised.


	8. Well you probably could have mentioned that Ali

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ali and Ashlyn have some fluffy time, and then the plot really starts to pick up. I mean after all this isn't just a flower shop au, but an imagine me and you au, so there has gotta be some angst.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo guess who missed their flight to Arkansas? That's right this gal. Anyways I have a flight tomorrow, but I decided you all deserved an update. I know I said I wouldn't update until I got back, but I felt generous so here. It's actually longer than usual by a whole thousand words so you're welcome xD.
> 
> \- Becks.

Ashlyn couldn't help but smile, her knee was finally healing and not the pain level wasn't as extreme. On top of that, however, was the fact that ever since her night with Ali when they went stargazing, they had been getting a lot closer. They texted frequently a couple times a day, random pictures of dogs or just checking in. 

The florist felt giddy because she felt like maybe there was somebody out there who liked her as much as she liked them. The blonde hadn't felt like that in a long time. The only downside was Ashlyn being back at work and school, while Ali had to worry about her own classes and soccer. Texting was nice but it wasn't the same as actually getting to see each other and hang out. 

Today was the day that Ashlyn was supposed to officially start back a full shift at work. She had been on light duty, but with holidays right around the corner, she knew she was needed at work. She tried to text Ali on her break and lunch, but she hadn't received a text back. She was really missing the girl, but she understood Ali was getting pretty busy. 

Ashlyn was in the back, setting up some flowers and plants for a future display when she heard the doorbell chime. She walked to the front. "Hey sorry, Can I help-... Ali?" Ashlyn couldn't believe the sight in front of her. 

Ali had some balloons and a small little cupcake. She gave Ashlyn a huge smile, her nose crinkling and her eyes squinting a bit. "Happy first real day back at work Ash. I am so proud of you." Ali said offering her the balloons and the cupcake. 

Ashlyn stared at her for a moment and then gave a small smile. "You didn't have to do that, but thank you, Ali. I really appreciate it, truly I am touched." Ash murmured, stepping forward to take it. She placed a kiss on Ali's cheek and tried to ignore the way that her heart was threatening to beat out of her chest. 

Ashlyn wasn't sure what was going on between them, but she was glad that Ali had thought to come by. Even seeing Ali in person was enough of a gift to her. "Do you maybe want to split the cupcake?" Ashlyn asked, trying to find a reason for Ali to stay if even for a minute longer. 

Honestly, it meant a lot to her that the girl was willing to come by. Ashlyn hadn't felt like this in a long time, the butterflies and excitement of having somebody to just share pieces of her life with. Maybe they weren't really together or dating yet, but Ashlyn could appreciate the budding friendship between the two. 

"Are you sure you want to share?" Ali asked, and when she received a nod in return, Ali just smiled. "Alright, I could always go for a bite of cupcake. Thanks, Ash." 

Ashlyn nodded and moved behind the counter to grab a napkin. She carefully tore the cupcake in half and then offered Ali a piece of it. "It's no problem at all." 

They ate in silence, happy to be enjoying each other's company when Ali noticed that Ashlyn had a little bit of frosting on the corner of her lips. "You have a little..." She pointed towards the girl's lip and raised a brow trying to let her know. 

Ashlyn looked confused and swiped at the wrong side of her mouth with her thumb. 

"No... It's the other side. Hold on." Ali stepped closer to the blonde and used her own thumb to wipe away the frosting. "There all better," Ali remarked, licking the icing off of her thumb. 

To Ashlyn it felt like time had stopped, the girl was so close that Ash could feel her body heat. As if sensing the change in the air Ali looked up into Ash's eyes, a breath of air escaping her when she realized their proximity. 

"I want to kiss you," Ashlyn whispered, her gaze searching. She had been wanting to actually kiss her for a long time. 

"Then kiss me." Ali grabbed the florist by the wrist and tugged her closer. 

That was all that Ashlyn need, she cupped Ali's face and pulled her in pressing their lips together. The blonde was positive that this was what heaven felt like, that surely God must have been thinking of Ali when he designed Ashlyn because to the girl it felt like they fit perfectly. 

Ali melted into the embrace, her hand moving up into Ashlyn's hair. She gave a light tug, earning a groan from the other girl. Ali pulled back and smirked a little bit. 

"That was really hot," Ali commented, wondering what other noises she could get the girl to make. 

"You're really hot," Ashlyn replied lamely, a blush coating her cheeks. 

Ali stared at her and started to giggle, causing Ashlyn to blush even harder. Ashlyn didn't want the girl laughing at her, so she quickly kissed her again, trying to swallow the girl's laughter with her lips. 

Ali was more than happy to kiss her for a while. She had been wanting to kiss Ashlyn for a long while too. She pulled back after a moment and gave a tiny smile. 

 

"Will you do me a favor?" Ali asked, trying to put just enough distance between them so that she could talk without getting distracted. 

 

Arching a brow, Ashlyn nodded. "Yeah, of course. What do you need?" 

 

"I want you to come to my game on Saturday if you can. You can bring Erin if you want, but I just want you to see me play." Ali wanted to show her what she was passionate about. 

 

Ash couldn't help but laugh, she had thought that Ali's favor was going to be either dirtier or at least criminal. "I am sure I can find time in my oh so busy schedule to come see a cute girl play soccer," Ashlyn promised, stroking her cheek. She knew that Ali had gone out of her way to be there for her when she was hurt and she wanted to return the favor of being supportive. "Maybe I will even make a sign and be your biggest fan there." 

"I would actually appreciate that." Ali mused, kissing her cheek before pulling away. "Try not to make Whitney too jealous that I am your new favorite." She joked, before checking her watch. She knew that Ash probably had to clean up the shop and she didn't want to get her in trouble. 

 

"I will see you at the game then," Ash promised, feeling really flattered and happy. She felt like nothing could bring her down. She watched as Ali headed out the door, and sighed happily. She wondered if other people were feeling as happy as she was at the moment.   
\---   
True to her word Ashlyn had shown up Saturday at the game, lugging a decently sized sign. She had decorated it with the words. "Go AK11" and "I got Krieger Fever". Ashlyn was hoping that the sign would make Ali smile because a smiling Ali was quickly becoming Ash's favorite. There was something about the way that Ali's nose would crinkle when she really smiled, and the way her eyes got all squinty. Truthfully, Ash had never understood what it meant when people talked about smiling with their eyes, but now that she had met Ali she understood. 

 

She could see the Penn State players warming up on the field, so she leaned back in her seat to watch them. There was a part of her that missed being out on the field, playing with Whitney. The ACL injuries she had suffered had ended that dream and there was still a small twinge of sadness whenever she saw her best friend on the field without her. This was supposed to be her dream, this was supposed to be them conquering college together. 

 

Ashlyn was lost in her thoughts and didn't notice that Whitney had jogged over towards her. 

 

"You are ridiculous," Whitney called, squirting a bit of her water bottle at Ashlyn. 

 

"Hey don't get the sign wet!" Ashlyn growled, before smiling at her best friend. "You gonna kick some ass out there?" 

 

Whitney nodded her head and gave a huge smile. "Of course, you know I always do. I always give a hundred and ten percent Ashy." She knew how hard it was for her friend not to be out on the field. She remembered the long conversation in the car when Ash had decided to give it up. 

 

"I know you do Whit, I am so proud of you." Ashlyn gave her friend a meaningful look. 

 

Whitney just rolled her eyes, she knew how Ashlyn felt. "Alright, I should get back, but enjoy the game okay? I want to hear you cheering for me too, by the way, I know where you sleep." She threatened playfully, before jogging away to go rejoin her teammates on the field. 

Ashlyn watched her best friend and then spotted Ali. A second later Ali glanced in her direction and gave a wave, lighting up when Ashlyn held up the sign. The soccer player gave Ashlyn a thumbs up and a big smile, before going back to practice. Ashlyn was glad that the girl liked her sign, she had been a bit worried that it would be too cheesy. 

The first half of the game went by pretty fast, Ashlyn kept cheering for her teammates. She was proud of the way that Whitney played and she was impressed by Ali's skills. The brunette was talented a great defender when it came to protecting her keeper and the net. 

It was the second half that really put Ash's nerves into high gear. Penn State had been up by one, but two goals in five minutes from the other team had them down by one. Ashlyn was on the edge of her seat when she saw a player from the opposite team foul Whitney hard, causing the girl to hit her head on the ground. Ashlyn jumped up, yelling out in protest that it should have been a foul, and that the ref needed to protect his players. 

Ali who had seen her teammate get fouled ran at the girl and ran shoulder first into her to knock her away from Whitney. All at once players from both sides were swarming the field and the girl was up in Ali's face yelling and shoving at her. Ali wasn't backing down either, and she was yelling just as loudly in defense of her teammates. 

It took the coaches, the refs, as well as some field attendants to get everybody calmed down and not fighting. The player who fouled Whitney got a yellow card, and Ali got a warning that if she didn't cool it she'd get a yellow card as well. 

Penn State ended up scoring another goal, ending the game with a tie. It wasn't the outcome that anybody wanted, but Ashlyn didn't care. She kept her eyes glued to the field, watching Whitney and Ali. The two were talking and Ashlyn was concerned that maybe her friend was injured. 

She leaned against the bleacher railing as Whitney and Ali approached. "Are you okay Whit? That was a nasty bump." Ash said, concern filling her gaze. 

Whitney waved her off. "I'll be fine, probably just have a headache. Let's be clear about something though Harris if you don't ask Ali to be your girlfriend in the next five minutes, I'll ask her myself. Her being all protective and defensive was hot as hell." Whitney mused, winking at Ali who mused shyly. 

"Hey get your own cute defender." Ashlyn glared, playfully flipping Whitney off. She couldn't deny the blush that was starting to spread on her own face though. She had been thinking the same thing about Ali, that she was hot as hell when she was protective. 

"Don't worry Ash, I like you. Besides, I think Whitney does have her own defender." Ali replied nodding to the goalie Alyssa Naeher before she realized that both Ash and Whit were staring at her. 

Ashlyn raised a brow looking confused. "My best friend is interested in somebody and didn't tell me?" 

Whitney gently punched Ali in the arm. "Thanks, Asshole." She grumbled, before trying to quickly leave the field before she could get interrogated by her best friend. 

Ali rubbed her arm and then looked to Ashlyn. "She hits hard." 

Chuckling Ashlyn nodded. "Yeah, she really does. She isn't wrong though." 

"About me being an asshole?" Ali looked confused, wanting to know what Ashlyn was talking about. 

"No, about me asking you to be my girlfriend." Ashlyn could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She wasn't sure if this was too fast or not, but she really liked Ali. She liked how the girl could get her to talk about the tough stuff, how Ali defended Whitney and brought her a cupcake to celebrate the small victories in her life. "Ali will you be my girlfriend?" 

Ali felt her jaw fall open, she hadn't expected the question, and it took her a few seconds of opening and closing her mouth before she could get words to form. "Yes, yes I will be your girlfriend." 

The words felt loaded with hope and Ali couldn't help it as she launched herself at Ashlyn and kissed her deeply. She felt happy, and she wanted to share what she was feeling with the girl. 

Ashlyn caught her and helped her over the guardrail as they kissed. She swung her around before setting her down on the ground. 

"Not that I minded the kiss, but what was that for?" Ashlyn asked, her hands gently cupping the girl's cheeks. 

Ali shrugged before giggling. "I just felt like kissing my girlfriend." 

Ash was really enjoying the way that it sounded. It had been a while since she had been in a relationship, so this was nice to be in one again. She hugged Ali close, and just sighed happily. 

"Okay, I have to go shower because I smell horrible. But maybe we can hang out afterward, the team is going out for Pizza and you can be my date." Ali asked, hoping that Ashlyn would agree to come with her. 

"Sure, I mean I probably need to drive Whit home, so I'd have to come anyway. I'd love to be your date cutie." Ash gestured for her to go ahead and go. 

Ali smiled fondly at her and then jogged towards the locker room when she saw a familiar looking face waiting outside of it. She felt her heart drop and the blood in her veins turn to ice. It had only taken her a moment to realize who the person was. 

"Matt? What are you doing here?" Ali asked, her voice rising an octave. Her eyes were wide with panic, this couldn't be happening to her. She had thought she left the red-headed man back in her hometown. There was no way he could be there right now, not when things were finally going so perfect for her. 

The red-headed man turned to look at Ali and gave a sort of grim smile. "Is that any way to greet your husband?" The way that he said it, caused her face to go pale. This was not good, not good at all. 

Her husband was here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also sorry not sorry for the cliff-hanger, but you'll love me still I hope. I'll be trying to brainstorm some ideas while I'm on vacation. I got an interesting idea about flight attendant Ali and air marshall Ashlyn. 
> 
> Anyways show me some love on this story, and give me some kudos or reviews. both would be nice please, I've had a shitty day and need to be validated. Also come talk to me on tumblr, @Krashlynpride
> 
> \- Becks.


	9. I can't leave you even if I tried

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ali has to explain to Ashlyn why the heck her 'husband' just showed up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I am back from vacation with an update for each of my stories. I wrote close to 9,000 words while on vacay. Did you all miss me as much as I missed you guys?
> 
> Let me know your thoughts about the story
> 
> -Becks.

Ali hadn't thought this feeling of dread was possible, she had finally made it to a place where she was happy. Once more though dread was seeping into her bones, just like when she had been back home. 

"Matt, why are you here?" Ali felt like her voice was shaking and she hated herself for it. She hadn't planned on seeing him ever again and yet he was here. 

The red-headed man just stared back at her, his eyes searching for any sign of the girl he had once known. "Alex, are you seriously asking me that?" 

Ali wanted to tell him to leave before Ashlyn saw him. If Ashlyn did see him, then Ali would have to explain and she didn't want to lose what she had with the florist. She was happy and yet she could feel that happiness evaporating the longer that she had to look at him. 

Matt reached a hand out to place it on her shoulder, but Ali batted it away and shook her head. He frowned at her but let his hand fall to his side. "You left without saying anything Ali what did you expect?" 

"What we did, what we had, that was a mistake. If you would have signed the divorce papers we could have been past this. I didn't leave without saying anything, you knew I was leaving for college." Ali felt like her heart was tightening in her chest. She didn't like this, she felt like she was going to have a panic attack. 

The man stared at her hard, trying to figure her out. "You know how I feel about you Ali. You were one of my best friends, my family doesn't believe in divorce." Matt sighed and stuffed his hands in the pocket. "You didn't even give us a chance Ali." 

Ali was mad now. "We were both barely eighteen and we were drunk. You took advantage of the fact that I was vulnerable because of my parents' divorce. If you were ever my friend you would have realized that us getting married when we were drunk was a bad idea!" Her voice was rising with emotion. Ali couldn't handle it, she could handle the fact that he was now coming back into her life. 

"You're my wife Ali, maybe us getting married wasn't ideal, but we made vows." Matthew insisted. 

Ali lost her temper. "I was drunk okay?! I don't want to be with you, it was a mistake and I want a divorce." 

He started to take a step forward when a large hand caught him on the shoulder. Alyssa Naeher dragged Matthew back and slowly shook her head. Behind Alyssa was both Ashlyn and Whitney, Whitney was looking angry and Ashlyn simply refused to make eye contact. It was evident that they had heard some of the conversations, but Ali wasn't sure how much. 

"I would suggest you leave, she doesn't want you to be touching her," Alyssa said, her voice eerily calm. 

Matt huffed and glared at Ali. "We need to talk and you know it. I'll go but you need to call me, you can't treat me like this Ali, I've never done anything to deserve you cutting me out. You're my wife, I deserve an explanation!" He called, before shoving his way out of the stadium. 

Ali watched him go and then turned to the group of girl's. "Thank you for saving me guys." 

Ashlyn glanced up from the ground there was a fire in her eyes. "You have a husband?" 

"Wait, Ash, let me explain it wasn't like that?" Ali stepped forward her hands coming up to show that she meant no harm.

Ashlyn stepped back unable to handle the flood of emotions that were clouding her. She knew right now she couldn't have a rational conversation with Ali, she was angry but she didn't want to hurt her back. "I need to go home, I can't talk to you right now." 

"So that's it? You're going to give up on us?" Ali asked, feeling hurt. She couldn't blame the girl though, she knew there was a part of her that probably wouldn't be understanding if the roles were reversed. 

"A-" Ashlyn sighed and ran a hand through her blonde hair in frustration. "No, I am not giving up on you. I really like you, but you having a husband is kind of a big deal! You didn't mention it at all, and that is definitely something you mention." Ashlyn was irritated, unsure of how to handle the swirling storm of emotions she felt. 

Ali wilted at the girl's words and stared at the ground. "I'll give you some space to think then, but please just give me a chance to explain before you give up. I want at least a second to explain and then if you decide you don't want to be together I won't bother you." Ali promised, her tone pleading with the girl. 

Looking to Whitney as if to ask her what to do, Ashlyn then looked to Ali. "We'll talk in twenty-four hours." She said curtly, before turning her back and leaving to the parking lot. 

Ali felt hopeless as she watched the girl walk away this wasn't what she wanted. She wanted to wrap Ashlyn up in her arms, kiss her and tell her the truth. She felt like there was something beautiful between them and it absolutely gutted her to know that Ashlyn could end up walking out on her. 

"You messed up Krieger, I expected more from you," Whitney stated staring at her teammate and the girl that had just broken her best friend's heart. "Ashlyn doesn't deserve this drama, I know you're smart, so figure this out," Whitney warned, before taking Alyssa's hand and walking after Ashlyn. Whitney's head was still spinning from her probable concussion and this whole drama had added more to it. 

The next twenty-four hours seemed to drag by for Ali, she had to fight the urge to text Ashlyn every couple of seconds. She hardly slept and when she did sleep it was full of nightmares. Ali felt restless and she wanted to call Kyle and have her brother comfort her but she knew he was busy off doing whatever it was that he did. 

Finally, it was around four in the afternoon when Ali felt like she could message Ashlyn, it wasn't exactly twenty-four hours but it had been close enough. She texted Ashlyn wanting to know if they could meet at the park or somewhere neutral and talk. 

It took Ashlyn a very anxiety producing twenty minutes before she finally texted Ali back, telling her to meet at the park across the street from the college near the old Peter Pan statue in an hour. 

Ali got there early, she had tried to look decent but felt like the crappy way she was feeling was reflected on the outside. She tried to sit still, but when she spotted Ashlyn her heart took off at a gallop. Ali swallowed thickly willing her body to behave at the sight of her girlfriend, were they even still girlfriends? The thought was painful and Ali felt like she was going to throw up. 

Ashlyn looked good and put together as if her makeup and clothes were her armor. She wore a shirt with the sleeves cut off, showing her arm definition and tattoos. Her hair was tied back and tucked under a snapback. Her eyes that Ali normally found solace in were hidden behind sunglasses. Ali had a feeling she would be literally talking to a brick wall, she could see it from the girl's posture. 

"You came," Ali stated, hating the way she sounded. She knew everything was awkward but she just wanted to explain. 

"I told you I would," Ash replied, sitting down on the bench. It was clear by her body language that she wasn't happy, she had purposely sat a good foot away from Ali, making the distance feel like a grand canyon of pain. 

Taking a deep breath Ali pushed forward. "Ashlyn I owe you an apology, I should have told you I was married in the past. I was going to tell you, we had just started dating though. You literally had just asked me to be your girlfriend, I didn't think then was the right time to say 'Oh, by the way, I'm technically married to a man who won't sign the divorce papers.' Ashlyn, I swear to you that I want nothing to do with Matt, my marriage to him was a drunken mistake." 

"Why'd you married him then?" Ashlyn pressed, not caring about tact. She wanted the truth from the brunette and she wasn't going to leave until she got it. 

Ali sighed and forced herself to make eye contact, or attempted since Ashlyn refused to remove her sunglasses. "My parents were getting a divorce, my brother was gone off doing drugs and lord knows what else. He was my best friend, the only one I had to lean on. Matthew and I, we got drunk off of our asses after graduation. We felt like the world was changing around us and we needed something steady." Ali's voice was starting to feel with emotion, it was hard to talk about the hard stuff, but she was trying. She didn't want to lose Ashlyn, even if it meant confronting the hard stuff. 

"You two thought getting married would give you something steady?" Ashlyn was trying to understand, she didn't quite get it but she was trying. There was no judgment in her voice at least not at that moment 

Ali finally broke eye contact and stared at the ground. She bit the inside of her cheek, willing herself not to cry. My mom is my hero Ashlyn. I felt my faith in marriage shaken, I wanted to have something steady. I wanted to give her something, to show her I'd be alright. Matthew was a good guy, he was my best friend, I thought it'd make my mom happy. I happened to be very drunk when I married him, we eloped." 

Ashlyn frowned and finally removed her sunglasses. It was evident that she had been crying and upset, she also had the beginnings of a black eye. "Did you two sleep together?" 

Ali glanced up, her eyes bulging when she noticed Ashlyn's black eye. "What the hell happened to your face?" Without thinking about it, she moved forward to touch the florist's face. Ashlyn winced but didn't move away, letting Ali look at the wound. 

"I got into a fight with some punk trying to steal some flowers. Now please answer the question, did you sleep together?" Ashlyn just wanted the truth, she didn't want Ali trying to baby her or change the subject. 

"Okay, no I didn't sleep with him. We were too drunk to have sex and when we woke up and got over our hangovers I realized that I only saw him as a friend. He begged me to give him a two-week trial run as my husband, but we slept in separate beds. Ashlyn, I don't see Matthew like that I asked him for a divorce and he wouldn't give it to me. I've been trying to get him to divorce me for almost three years now." Ali explained, unsure of how to get the girl to believe her. 

Ashlyn stared at her and then stared at the ground. "You're married Ali, what am I supposed to do now? This is a whole lot of baggage." Ashlyn felt like her own heart was being squeezed and fed through a woodchipper. 

Ali felt tears prick her eyes, she had a feeling that this conversation wasn't going to end in a way that she wanted it too. "Please Ash, do not give up on me, I am sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I like you a lot though, please just give me a chance. Yes, it's a lot of baggage, but if he had just signed the papers I would be divorced." 

Ashlyn stood up and Ali had to fight her hardest not to reach for the girl. "I need to really think this through, Ali. This is a lot to take in, and I am not sure how to process this. You have a lot to work through it seems, with this Matthew guy. I am not giving up on you, but I think we need to take a step back and evaluate." Ashlyn could see that the words landed wrong, she hated watching Ali's face crumble like she had been sucker punched. Ashlyn swallowed down a lump of emotion and pushed her sunglasses down before walking away. The sound of Ali breaking down and crying followed her all the way to the car. 

Whitney was waiting for Ashlyn to get home, she was cuddling on the couch with Alyssa when her best friend walked through the door. She gently tapped the keeper's side and Alyssa let her up. Whitney walked after to Ashlyn, catching the girl's bedroom door before it slammed shut. 

"Want to talk about it?" Whitney asked, her gaze searching as she stared at the distraught girl. "We can get Erin and all of us can have a movie and ice cream night." She offered, watching as Ashlyn took off her sunglasses and the clothes she had worn as armor to protect herself from whatever Ali could say. Apparently, her best friend's attempt at protecting herself hadn't worked, Whitney could tell from the look on her face. 

"No, Erin is probably with Ella and you have Alyssa. I'm still mad at you for not telling me you had a girlfriend, but I forgive you." Ashlyn turned to look at Whitney, only to be met with the steady embrace from her friend. Ashlyn melted into the hug and just cried, she felt like everything was going wrong and she hated it. 

Whitney rubbed her back, just letting the girl cry and get it all out. She gently rocked her back and forth, before taking her best friend's hand and dragging her into the bed. "I'll be the big spoon Pookie. You just lay your head down okay?" Whitney spooned her best friend, gently rubbing her back as she cried. She knew Alyssa would understand, Alyssa was a great girlfriend and eventually would probably end up spooning both of the emotional blondes. 

"She's married and she didn't even tell me." Ash felt gutted and betrayed. 

"She should have told you, but you guys just started dating what like five minutes ago? Ashy, you know people have secrets. People are all damaged and I've known Ali for a bit now. She wouldn't have held that from you forever." Whitney explained, she was mad at Ali for hurting her best friend but she also knew that Ali wasn't a horrible person. 

"Who's side are you on?" Ash grumbled bitterly. 

Whitney scoffed and rolled her eyes, before tickling Ashlyn's side. "Yours, you doofus. You and me, we're a team. I would never marry your ass because you snore and you're lazy as hell, but we're a team. I've got your back and I want the best for you kid, you gotta give Ali another shot though. She's a good person and we all make mistakes. She clearly cares about you and even if you guys end up just being friends you need that in your life. Don't count her out baby girl, she's honestly somebody who can brighten your life up. Give it a few days and then forgive her and move on." Whitney didn't want Ashlyn to shut down and not let anything good in her life. She wanted Ashlyn to be careful with her heart but not so protective that she never let anybody in. 

Ash knew her best friend was right and that it was probably for the best that she forgive Ali. They would need to talk about it, and be a team but they could do it together. "So you and Naeher huh?" 

Whitney blushed and gently whacked Ashlyn with a pillow. "Shut up!" She squealed, hiding her face. 

Ashlyn giggled softly, she'd be okay. Her heart was still aching, but at least she had Whitney, Erin, and even Ali.


	10. We can make it through I hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ali realizes she's not alone and Ashlyn realizes that all she wants is Ali.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey so it's been a bit, I am sorry this isn't as long as my typical updates. But I wanted to get something out to you guys. This is probably a little bit of a filler chapter. Also, I have a new shipping obsession Camila/Marta I call them Camarta lol. Anyways I can't wait for Ash to be able to play again, I need me some Krashlyn feels. 
> 
> Again sorry is this chapter sucks but it does set up the groundwork for the next chapter, I needed to get them talking again.

Pushing herself hard in soccer had become Ali's coping mechanism, it had always been her go-to hobby for trying to fix a broken heart. Ali hated that Matthew had come back into her life and possibly ruined things for her and Ashlyn. However she couldn't have blamed it all on him, she knew that she had some blame in not telling Ashlyn that she was married sooner. 

That didn't ease the ache in her heart though, all she wanted was to be able to stop thinking about the florist. Ali had thrown herself into her own world, focusing on soccer and school, while also trying to avoid Matt. She wanted him to go away, and leave her alone. Still, he was persistent which was why it was not a surprise when he eventually wound up at her soccer practice. 

Ali really did try to ignore him, but she could feel his gaze burning into her with every move she made out on the field. She was getting irritated and her coach could tell that she was missing a step here or there. 

"Is something wrong Krieger, you've been on fire lately but you seem to be lacking today." Coach Ellis called, giving Ali a look of concern. 

"Sorry coach, I'll try and get my head in the game," Ali promised Jill, she really didn't want to have Jill made at her. Ali needed playing time on the field if she was going to get signed to the pro-league. Ali felt an anger stirring inside of her, she had let Matthew cost her enough, she wouldn't lose soccer too. 

As soon as the practice was over she marched over to the bleachers to confront him. "Why are you here?" Ali challenged, barely hiding her irritation. 

Matthew smirked at her and shrugged. "I was out enjoying the nice weather, besides how else am I going to get you to talk to me, this seems rather effective." He announced smugly. 

"I don't like you, Matthew, I don't love you or want you. You need to sign the divorce papers and leave me alone." Ali spat, she was so angry she felt like there was probably steam coming out of her ears. "What you're doing is borderline stalker status, if you don't quite I'll have a restraining order filed against you." Ali was done playing around, she wanted to be left alone. 

Matt seemed to take that as a challenge. "Please, as if somebody is going to grant you a restraining order. Besides Ali, all I want is you to come back home with me and be my wife. We could be happy but you're being selfish and not giving us a chance." Matt pouted at her, looking a lot like a petulant child that hadn't got his way. 

Ali rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. She really wanted to beat the living daylights out of him, but she was trying to hold back. "Selfish? Are you kidding me? You're the one who's being selfish you won't leave me alone and let me get on with my life. Us being married was a mistake!" Ali's voice was rising with each word and now she was downright yelling at him. 

Some of Ali's teammates had stopped what they were doing and were now gawking at the scene before them. Carli Lloyd, Alyssa, Whitney, and Sydney Leroux walked over and stopped about a foot away from Ali. It was clear that they were there to back up Ali if things got out of control. 

"Listen, man! I don't want to see you anywhere near this field again. If I do Ali won't be the only one filing a complaint." Carli growled, she hated having her teammates distracted and more than that she hated men who thought they could push girls around. "A lot of our boyfriends are athletes and I am sure they would love to hear about the creepy guy harassing our girls." Carli meant every word of it too. 

Matthew glared at Carli and then looked to Ali before raising a brow. "You are seriously going to hide behind your stupid little friends? Come on Ali, you know we're meant to be together." Matthew challenged, growing angrier with each passing moment. 

"Look I don't like you, I don't want to be with you. Leave me alone Matt, I am not playing." Ali shot back, before giving a thankful nod to her teammates and walking with them back to the locker room. Ali felt blessed to have their support and even a little surprised that Lyss and Whitney had come over to defend her. 

When they were finally back in the safety of the locker room Ali gently touched Whit's shoulder to get her attention. "Can I talk to you for a second?" 

Whitney nodded and gestured for the others to go on ahead without her. "What can I do for you, Krieger?" 

"I just wanted to thank you for standing up for me out there and having my back." Ali knew Whitney had every right to be mad about her hurting Ashlyn, so it meant a lot that the girl had come to her aid. 

"Look Ali I can't excuse you hurting my best friend, but I like to think I'm a good judge of character. You and Ashlyn will work things out, maybe you can put this all behind you. Just try not to hurt her again okay? Ash is a good person like you and she cares too much about people. Don't take advantage of that," Whitney warned. Ashlyn was like a sister to her, and she wanted to protect her the best that she could. 

"I don't want to hurt her, I want to be there for her. I know I made a mistake not telling her, but I honestly would have told her. We had barely started dating though, and I thought he was in my past." Ali knew that her having a lot of baggage was tough, but she hadn't lied to Ashlyn. She wanted to be with her, to see where their relationship could go. 

Whitney placed a hand on her shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. "Trust me, Ash will come around. Just let things happen naturally Ali." She encouraged before moving away from her and into the locker room.   
\----   
Ashlyn was wandering the aisles at her local grocery store. Her uniform from the flower shop was sticking to her uncomfortably, and she felt like it was way too hot to be outside. She just wanted to get out of the heat and buy some popsicles. She had just turned the isle with the boxed pasta when she spotted a familiar bun. 

"Ali?" 

Ali turned and paled as if she had seen a ghost. She opened her mouth to say something but immediately snapped it shut finding the macaroni and cheese box in front of her interesting all of a sudden. 

"You can talk to me ya know." Ashlyn prompted, wondering if they had been reduced to not acknowledging each other. Ash knew it had been harsh to leave Ali crying but she had needed some space. 

Ali looked at her and looked rather pained. "Yeah, I know. I just don't know what to say I guess." She shrugged and set the blue box back on the shelf. 

Ashlyn sighed and nodded to the box. "That's always my comfort food, Whit says I eat too much of it." 

"Mine's chocolate but if coach Ellis catches me buying any, she'll make me run sprints." Ali managed to crack a small smile.   
"Chocolate is always a good choice, I like to go to the store the day after holidays so that I can buy cheap candy," Ash said, a wide smile tugging at her lips. She looked at Ali and smirked at her, arching a brow. "Maybe I'll make you some macaroni and cheese and then we can have a chocolate cake for desert sometime." 

Ali felt like she was being shell-shocked. She didn't know what was going on with Ashlyn but honestly, it was giving her a little bit of whiplash. "I thought you needed space," Ali replied, the words feeling dumb as they left her mouth. 

Ashlyn frowned and glanced to the ground. She knew was being unfair to Ali and giving her mixed signals. "I know I am being unfair Ali and for that, I apologize. I do want to be with you, I know there is a lot to work out with you trying to get a divorce but I am here and I'm willing to try. We can work through this together if you want." 

The brunette was frowning too now, she didn't know how to process the mood changes Ashlyn seemed to be experiencing. "Alright I mean I want to be with you too Ash. Maybe we can try this time, I'll tell you whatever you want to know." Ali promised, unable to forget how it felt to watch Ashlyn walk away from her. It had really hurt a lot to be left there crying. 

Ashlyn cleared her throat. "How about we grab a Starbucks and talk." She suggested. 

"I think I would like that," Ali replied, feeling a little better now.


	11. I can't live a life without your grace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Krashlyn gets that coffee and talks their shit out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dude I hadn't updated in like over 2 weeks, shame on me. Also though school is coming up in like 3 weeks, so updates might get scarce after school starts. We all know how that goes. But I've had so much fun writing so far, and don't worry I am not giving up on my stories. I have a lot of Camarta ideas swimming around in my head. xD
> 
> Anyways enjoy some Krashlyn feels, and also I have an idea of how I will eventually resolve the whole Matt issues. He's gotta go, he's cramping Ali's style.
> 
> I missed you all, don't be strangers.
> 
> Enjoy the chapter
> 
> -Becks.

Ashlyn knew she shouldn't have been surprised that Ali would order a drink with some chocolate in it. Still, the florist couldn't deny that it brought a smile to her face, she wanted to also bring a smile to Ali's face. Things were complicated, but Ashlyn couldn't deny her feelings for Ali any more than she could deny how much she missed playing soccer. 

"Thank you for buying my drink," Ali said, taking the cup from Ashlyn. She took a sip of the drink, trying to buy time before she would have to no doubt face the inevitable. 

Ashlyn took a long drink from her own coffee, her eyes searching as she watched Ali. Ash's heart was pounding heavily in her chest, she wanted nothing more than to comfort the soccer player who looked like her whole world was being turned upside down. 

"I owe you an apology." Ash finally said, breaking the silence between the two of them. 

Ali's head snapped up, her eyes wide. "Excuse me?" 

Ashlyn forced herself to keep eye contact. "I didn't handle things the way that I should have when I found out about Matthew. I was unfair and I know I should have handled things more maturely. So, I am sorry." 

The brunette just stared hard at her, trying to figure out if she was being tricked or something. "I should have told you, I would have told you eventually. I just didn't think that it was going to be a big deal. I hadn't seen him in years, I also wasn't sure if things were going to get serious between you and me Ash. I promise I wouldn't have kept this from you." Ali's words were almost begging now. 

Ali didn't want to lose Ashlyn, she felt a connection with her. It almost felt like a disservice to not allow them to see what could develop. 

"I believe you, Ali. I really do." Ash reached across the table and offered her a hand. "I am willing to stand by your side and work through this. I won't leave you." 

There it was, the glimmer of hope that Ali was looking for. Her heart longed for a chance to actually be in a loving and happy relationship. 

"I think that I would like that very much," Ali whispered, taking Ashlyn's hand and intertwining their fingers. Sure, there was a lot to work through, but maybe they could do it together. They could handle working towards her divorce from Matthew. 

"Hey, are you busy this Friday Night?" Ashlyn asked, running her thumb over Ali's knuckles. "I know you have a soccer game on Thursday but I was going to try and get some people together for an intramurals team game of soccer." 

Ali giggled and took a drink of her coffee. "I wouldn't miss it for the world." She promised, kind of eager to see Ashlyn in action.   
Ashlyn grinned and took Ali's enthusiasm as a good sign. Perhaps this could be a good thing for them, a way to bond. Plus, Ashly could show off her mad keeper skills and hopefully not get hurt again. 

"It's a date then." Ashlyn mused, smiling at the way that Ali's eyes seemed to light up at the words. Ashlyn was on cloud nine, she had a feeling they could handle things as long as they stuck together and were honest with each other. 

"A date, does that mean I get dinner afterward?" Ali gave her a playful look. 

"Whatever you want Princess." Ashlyn muse, giving her hand a squeeze before going back to drinking her coffee. 

\--- 

"You seem in a better mood than you have been in the past few days," Erin remarked, pausing in the middle of her laundry folding to actually get a look at Ashlyn who was undeniably dancing in the middle of the apartment's kitchen. 

Whitney snorted from where she was matching socks. "Leave her be McLeod, she's got love on the brain." Whitney teased, earning a middle finger from Ashlyn who still hadn't stopped dancing. 

Erin arched a brow and tilted her head. "The girl who came into the flower shop is what she's dancing for? I'm surprised she isn't taking better care of her knee." 

Ashlyn huffed and moved to sit down. She knew Erin had a point, her knee was still healing and she wanted to be better in time so she could play intermural soccer. "I have a date with Ali after I get the team together." She announced, barely able to hide the fact that she was really excited. 

"Isn't she married though, that's what you were moping about?" Erin didn't quite understand everything that was happening with her friend. 

"Fight me, McLeod," Ashlyn muttered, folding her arms over her chest, barely able to hide the agitation Erin's words had aroused. 

Whitney sighed and rubbed her temples, clearly in no mood to referee a fight between her two roommates. "Okay, why don't we all take a step back from this, and just calm down." She suggested ever the voice of reason. She was starting to regret not going out with Alyssa earlier when she had the chance. "Let's act our ages and not like toddlers." 

Ashlyn rolled her eyes but complied with her best friend's request and settled down. "Yes, she is married. However, it's a lot more complicated, she made a mistake and she wants a divorce, and the guy won't let her because of some religious thing." 

Now that was something that Erin could understand. "Ella used to be really religious, so I mean I can understand that getting in the way of things. But love is love, and it always finds a way to conquer in the end." Erin mused, trying to be a little supportive to Ashlyn now. 

"Thanks, Erin." Ashlyn gave her a warm smile, feeling a little better now. She knew she needed to talk to Ali some more and maybe them hanging out would be a good thing. 

"Hey Ash, I have an idea about something that might help you." Whitney piped up, thinking about the fact that Matthew kept trying to show up at practice. "Why don't you come to practice on Saturday morning, and maybe ask Ali for a movie night here at the house. Erin, you can invite Ella, and I'll invite Alyssa." 

"So a triple date?" Ashlyn pursed her lips, trying to think. "I don't know if she would feel comfortable with that." She honestly didn't want to make Ali feel pressured or uncomfortable. Everything still felt a little uncertain with the soccer player, even if they were making steps in the right direction.

"Well, why don't you invite more of the team over. Everybody can bond and it'll be great." Erin offered, trying to find some common ground. Erin knew that everybody there would be supportive and there wouldn't be as much pressure to couple off. Erin knew her roommate well enough that she could tell when Ash got nervous. 

Ashlyn seemed to like that idea better so, she nodded. "Okay I am down, it sounds like a deal." She got up to leave the room and go text, Ali. She hoped that her girlfriend would be down for it. 

"Let her know it'll be an all weekend sort of thing! Everybody bonding could be a lot of fun." Whit called after her.   
\---   
It was Thursday afternoon and Ashlyn had been watching Whitney and Ali warm up for their game. She knew Erin was starting to get in more practices with the team and would probably be making her first start. Ashlyn was excited for her friends, but even more excited to see Ali play some soccer. 

It had also worked out for Ashlyn to work a long shift on Friday before intramural practice, as well as a long shift on Monday. She still needed to earn money from her job, and because she had been injured prior she couldn't really afford to not be working. Getting the whole weekend off had been hard, but she was lucky her boss was understanding. 

Staring out on the field once more, Ashlyn watched as Ali and Whitney both took shots on goal, Alyssa blocking them with relative ease. Ash was happy for Whitney, the girl deserved somebody who could treat her right. 

Ashlyn was so occupied watching Ali that she almost didn't notice that Matthew had arrived. He sat down on one of the lowest bleacher benches and was staring a hole through Ali. Ashlyn felt like she had been punched in the gut, the very sight of him made her blood boil. 

"Shit." Out on the field Whitney had noticed Ashlyn and was about to wave to her when she followed Ashlyn's gaze to Matthew. She knew her friend, and she knew Ashlyn had a temper the size of Florida. The girl was a fighter and the way that Ashlyn was sizing up Matthew, Whitney knew what was going to happen. 

"What?" Ali frowned at Whitney's string of curses, as she turned to look at the bleachers. She spotted Ashlyn and then finally, Matthew. "Oh no." Ali took off at a run, Whitney close on her heels. 

Ashlyn had descended down the bleacher steps and was right in front of Matthew, blocking his view. She folded her arms across her chest, and just glared hard. 

"Can I help you with something?" Matthew asked, he remembered seeing the blonde bitch before, but he couldn't place it. 

Ashlyn gritted her teeth. "You can leave now." She warned, her tone holding no room to argue. 

Snorting at her Matt rolled his eyes and stood up, towering a few inches above her. "Why should I?" 

"Because my girlfriend doesn't want you here, you make her feel uncomfortable." Ashlyn challenged back, her first balling at her side. 

"Ashlyn do not hit him, believe me, he's not worth it," Ali called, jogging up into the stands and getting between them, she didn't want Ashlyn to get provoked into a fight. 

Matthew placed his hand on Ali's shoulder. "See I knew you would come around Alex, now please tell your little blonde friend to get lost." 

Ali grabbed his hand off her shoulder and twisted his wrist awkwardly until Matt was yelping in pain. "Don't ever touch me again or speak to my girlfriend in that way." She snapped, shoving him back. 

The red-headed man glared at her and rubbed his wrist. "Girlfriend? Are you kidding me?" He glared at her and shook his head. "As if being unfaithful to your husband wasn't enough, you're an abomination too? I guess you two can rot in hell" 

It was then that a voice that Ali didn't know, spoke up. "The only one here who's a disgrace to a religion is you, sir. Love isn't a sin, and if it is then at least they won't be anywhere near you jackass." 

"Ella." Ashlyn felt tears prick her eyes, thankful that her roommate's girlfriend had shown up. 

Ella gave a warm smile, that quickly turned into a frown. "Let me tell you something, sir. I dated a man once and now I am very happy with a woman." She looked Matthew over and narrowed her eyes. "I can see why Ali would want to find her romance else where. You, sir, are a tool, and you need to get lost." Ella had heard enough about Ali's issues from Erin over the phone. She hated homophobic religious people, even though she had been that blind and confused person before. She had made strides to acknowledge that love was love. 

"A bunch of fucking dyk-" Matthew was getting ready to tear into all of the stupid women in front of them.

Ali cut him off with a resounding slap. "Get out of here now Matt, I want an annulment. You leave right now, or else." Ali warned, not calming down until her husband was leaving the bleachers. 

Ashlyn watched him go and then looked to Ali. "I know this isn't the time, but that was really fucking hot." Ashlyn mused, seeing her girlfriend in a new light. 

Ali rolled her eyes and pressed a tender kiss to Ashlyn's cheek. "If you don't mind, I have a game to help prep for and win. I'll see you after the game babe." She mused kissing the girl softly and climbing back down onto the field. She didn't even have to look back at Ashlyn's expression to know that she had left her girlfriend dumbstruck. 

Whitney was watching and gave Ali a thumbs-up. "That was pretty bad ass Kriegy. Come on princess warrior, we got a game to go fucking win. Then this weekend, we are going to party."


	12. love can heal the wounds you didn't know you had

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ash and Ali finally get some bonding time with the gals, a more happy chapter.

Ali had started to appreciate the parties that Whitney and Ashlyn threw at their apartment. Not only was Ali allowed to bond with her soccer teammates, she was allowed to bond with Ashlyn, as well. It also didn't hurt that she had made some friend with her teammates' significant others. 

She hadn't expected Erin McLeod's girlfriend to defend her, Ella Masar had come out of left field to defend her to Matthew. Also, Ella had sat with Ashlyn the whole game, providing her moral support and that had meant a lot to Ali. 

Which was why at the little party, Ali had sought Ella out, wanting to talk to her a little bit. "Hey Erin, do you mind if I borrow your girlfriend? Ash is busy grilling, and I have a feeling she'll need your help to make sure she doesn't catch anything on fire." 

"Alright but you have to give her back. Ella will tell you that I don't like to share her one bit." Erin laughed before heading over to help Ashlyn, she knew how bad the florist was at cooking. She also didn't want to have to pay for the other keeper burning down the apartment complex.

Ella gave Ali a friendly, yet confused smile. "Did you need to talk?" Ella had been dating Erin for a while, and she, of course, knew Ashlyn through Erin. She had heard about Ali but had never really gotten the chance to meet her or talk to her. 

Nodding her head, a little, Ali looked at the other soccer player. "I wanted to thank you for coming to not only my defense but Ashlyn's as well. Things haven't been easy lately, but I know it meant a lot to the both of us." Ali wanted to show how sincere she was. It had been a long time since somebody had stuck up for her like that. 

Ella's smile brightened and she gave a shrug. "Look I know what it's like to date a guy, and I know what it's like to date a girl. I think at the end of the day love is love. It is impossible to put love in a box you know. I was probably as bad as your ex-boyfriend once, but love got a hold of me and it changed me. I wouldn't trade a day that I've had with Erin for anything." 

Ali smiled at her and thought about how happy she felt with Ash. She wanted to spend time getting to know her and being close. "She makes me happy and I haven't felt that in a long time. I mean I should have told her I was married, but honestly, she's all I could have ever wanted." She explained softly. 

"Oh, believe I get that. Erin makes me feel the same way. I can help you find a good lawyer if you want. We'll help you get the marriage annulled." Ella offered, wanting to help her. She didn't like seeing the girl sad, nor did she like seeing Ashlyn sad either. 

"I just hope that she and I figure it all out. I mean she invited me to play soccer with her on her intramural league." Ali wanted a fresh start with Ashlyn, one where things were no longer messy. 

"Play on the intramural league with her, it'd give you two some time together," Ella suggested before she noticed Erin backing away from the grill. "How about first you go distract your girl before she sets the apartment on fire." 

Ali giggled and looked to where Ashlyn was trying to put out a fire on the grill. "Alright, I think I can do that." She said getting up to go get Ashlyn's attention. 

\----

"Oh my god I don't think move," Ashlyn complained as she flopped down on the couch, laying her head in Ali's lap. She had eaten three burgers and two hot dogs. "So much food, I think my stomach is going to rip apart."

Ali chuckled and began playing with Ashlyn's hair, she found the girl really fricken adorable. "You're cute you know that?" She asked, leaning down to drop a kiss on the top of Ashlyn's head. 

Ashlyn blushed but looked up into Ali's eyes. It was easy to forget her troubles when she was lost in the other girl's eyes. Ashlyn wanted to shower her girlfriend with a thousand different flowers. 

"So I get to ask you three questions, and I have been thinking long and hard about them." Ali mused, still playing with Ashlyn's hair. She kept eye contact, feeling like she was really seeing into her girlfriend's soul. 

"Go ahead beautiful, what are you three questions." Ashlyn felt like Ali could ask her anything and she'd be honest. Getting to know each other would hopefully be helpful in the long term. 

Ali smirked down at her and tilted her head. "Do you have any spouses or exes I should know about?" 

Ashlyn smirked back at her and chuckled. "No love, only you have the secret spouse, hopefully soon to be ex though. I dated a few girls here and there."

"What Ashlyn means is she is a player." Whitney teased from the opposite couch. She was cuddled up with Alyssa, but she couldn't help but tease her best friend.

"I was a player, I am reformed now." Ashlyn insisted on raising her right hand as if taking a vow. "I am now a monogamous florist, trying to date my soccer player girlfriend."

Ali gave her girlfriend a once over. "If Ashlyn tried to play me, I think I could kick her ass." She teased, leaning down to press a kiss to her lips, before relaxing against the couch. 

"I wouldn't cheat on you babe, now what's your second question," Ashlyn asked, sitting up and turning so that she was facing her girlfriend. 

"Do you actually like being a florist? Like do you truly enjoy it or just for the paycheck?" Ali was curious about that, she knew Ashlyn worked hard and didn't really complain. 

Ashlyn thought for a long moment. "I do actually, I like putting together a beautiful bouquet. I love when elderly men come in and bring their wives flowers. I like the romance of it all." Ashlyn replied, a dreamy smile crossing her face. She really was a romantic at heart and she couldn't help it. "I started working there because I needed the cash to pay for tuition but honestly I stuck around because I like seeing people in love."

"God Ash, you're so sappy," Whitney called, groaning as she chucked a pillow at Ashlyn. "You're giving me and Erin a bad rap here." 

Ali giggled, she found it rather cute that her girlfriend was such a helpless romantic. She felt like she had lucked out with Ashlyn and she was hoping that maybe she and Ashlyn could continue to work stuff out. It meant a lot to her that Ashlyn hadn't given up on her once she found out about the Matt thing, they had weathered that storm at least. 

"You get one last question for today babe, what is it?" Ash asked, wanting to see what Ali would do with her question. 

"What position am I gonna play on your recreational team?" Ali gave her a shit-eating grin, hoping that Ashlyn would be happy she was joining the intramural team. 

"Oh, totally a defender so I can check out your ass the whole game." Ashlyn teased winking at her. 

Ali groaned and lightly hit Ashlyn's shoulder. "You're a punk, but you're my punk." She mused, still happy to be around her. 

"Just wait until practice, you won't be claiming me then." Ashlyn was notorious to her friends for being a hardass when it came to soccer. She was highly competitive and she wanted to win.

"Can I play on your team?" Ella asked, from where she sat with Erin. She just wanted a chance to spend more time with Erin, and she knew Erin and the rest of them would want to be involved. 

Ash nodded her head. "Yes, you can be on the team. We're gonna kick some serious ass." 

Ali giggled and kissed her cheek. "I should head home baby, walk me to my car please?" She asked she had some homework to do and she wanted to make sure she didn't get kicked off of Penn State's actual soccer team. 

Ashlyn pouted but stood up. "Sure thing babe, will I see you tomorrow. I have to work but maybe after?" 

"Of course," Ali said her goodbye to everybody and then took Ashlyn's hand walking to her car. 

"Hey, Ali?"

"What's up, babe?" Ali asked looking to see Ashlyn looking a tad conflicted. "You okay?"

Ashlyn thought for a moment before shrugging. "I just wanted to tell you that I care about you, and I am glad you are my girlfriend. I wouldn't trade that for the world." 

Ali felt her heart squeeze in her chest. "I am glad you're my girlfriend too. We're going to make it through whatever life throws at us okay?" She leaned up and gave Ashlyn one last kiss, before climbing into her car. "See you tomorrow love." 

Ashlyn watched her leave, her eyes staying trained on Ali's taillights until the girl was too far to see anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know it's been like 10 months since I updated this thing and put it on hiatus. Well, it's no longer on hiatus, and you can thank my friend Ana and my buddy Nethog for that. Thank you to everybody who hasn't given up on me or this story. I told you I would find my way back, didn't know it would take this long, but here is the next chapter.
> 
> Leave me some love, and some validation because I sure as heck need it 
> 
> I love you guys
> 
> \- Becks


	13. I did not see that coming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some fluffiness, and Ashlyn gets a job offer that she'd be stupid to turn down but how will Ali react.

Ashlyn could appreciate a good view when she saw one and there not a view more glorious than the one she currently had. Ashlyn had been running her squad of intramural players through their warm-ups when she got distracted by the sight of her girlfriend's ass. She hummed softly and licked her lips, wanting nothing more than to have some alone time with the girl.

"Harris, stop staring at Ali's ass, we're trying to train to win," Whitney called rolling her eyes in disgust at her best friend's antics. She was amused by it, but honestly, she just wanted to win.

Ashlyn tore her gaze away from her girlfriend's ass and shrugged at her best friend. "Can you blame me? Kriegs has a nice ass." She muttered, not all that ashamed to be caught looking. Ashlyn appreciated the fact that her girlfriend was sexy as hell and looked gorgeous in her soccer shorts.

Ali turned to shoot the other two a dirty look. "Stop talking about my body. Yes I know it's perfect but come on now." She joked, folding her arms over her chest. "Are we gonna practice or what?"

“Sorry babe, we’re going to practice,” Ashlyn promised, ignoring the smirk on Whitney’s face or the way her best friend make a whipping sound. So what if she was whipped, she didn't care. She just so happened to love and respect Ali's wishes, there was nothing wrong with that.

Ashlyn had reserved them all a nice field to practice on. She wanted to play keeper but her knee was still acting up so she was letting both Erin and Alyssa fight for it and decide who would be the team’s keeper. With both Whitney, Ella, and Ali playing, they had a pretty good squad, they’d just need a few more players. 

They were having a sort of open tryouts and Ashlyn was hoping that the team she was putting together would win them the prize money and some cred around campus.

"So we got a good forward with Masar, good defense with our two keepers and defenders. But we need another forward or mid probably both." Ashlyn announced trying to come up with a full proof plan of attack. 

"I could ask Tobin and her girlfriend Press if they want to play for our team. I'd ask Alex but she's already committed to Kelley and Carli's team." Ali offered softly. knowing they could recruit some players from the actual team. 

Ashlyn smiled back at her girlfriend, thankful for her food ideas. "You're so smart, babe." 

Ali giggled at the girl's praise and shrugged sheepishly. "Yeah, I try." She had never been with somebody like Ashlyn who constantly complimented her and made her feel good about herself. 

Ashlyn gave her a gentle kiss and then set about trying to organize their little team into one that would kick some serious butt. It meant a lot to her that despite everything that had happened, they were building some real and honest with each other. Ash could see that Ali was really trying to be open, honest and communicate with her even if the conversations were hard. She felt like they were on their way to having a healthier relationship now, one that had a happy ending.  
\---

(A couple days later)

Ashlyn had been slaving away since early in the morning trying to set up for the spring sale on the flowers. Her bosses were usually pretty chill, but they had some big investors coming in who had talked about expanding the business into different states. Ashlyn wanted to help her bosses impress and she liked flowers so she knew that they'd be counting on her. She had been taking as many extra shifts as she could, putting in overtime and just trying to promote the flower shop to the best of her abilities.

"Hey Ash, come here."

Ashlyn looked up and smiled at her boss, walking back to greet the kind little old lady. "Yes, Pia?"

"I was wondering if you would be interested in possibly helping to run a new location. It's in a different state of course, but you'd get a bump in pay, be the manager and have the corporation pay for you to attend the local college there." Pia suggested, laying out the plan to Ashlyn. It was a good opportunity, one that would keep Ashlyn out of debt and let her build a future business all of her own. Considering that Ashlyn had thought her options were over after she tore her ACL, it was one that she really needed to think about.

"Wow... that's sudden and a lot to take in Pia. Can I have a few days to consider it?" Ashlyn asked, knowing that she should talk to Ali and her roommates about it since it would affect them too. Things were finally going well with her and Ali, but this would certainly throw a wrench in things. 

Pia gave her a knowing look. "It would be hard to leave your friends and that girlfriend of yours."

"So very hard indeed, this is my home but the chance to own my own shop and go to college debt free..." Ashlyn trailed off. She didn't have soccer to fall back on and pay the bills like her friends did. She would never get called up for a national team like Erin, or have a full ride like Ali and Whitney. She needed the money and this was a good shot for her future. 

Pia placed a hand on her shoulder. "Take your girlfriend some flowers and talk to her. She'll appreciate the gesture." She suggested, knowing Ashlyn needed some time to think now. 

Ashlyn nodded and grabbed some flowers out of the bin. "Thanks, Pia." She called, taking off her work smock and hanging on the hook. "I'll see you tomorrow." She wanted to see Ali and talk about the stuff weighing on her mind. All the florist wanted to do was get to Ali and give her the flowers. 

She walked to the campus and was surprised to run into Whitney who had just gotten out of her math class. "Sup Whit." Ash greeted, falling in step with her best friend. If anybody could pick up on her mood and tell her the right thing to do, it would be Whitney.

The blonde defender gave her a small smile. "Not much, just walking to the cafeteria. You got some flowers for Ali, are you bring them on your break?" Whitney asked, wondering why Ashlyn wasn't at work. It wasn't like the girl to skip a shift, not when Ashlyn so clearly needed the money. "Did you get fired?" 

Ashlyn shook her head and hesitated, wondering if she should tell her friend or not. "Pia offered me a great opportunity but it would require me to move to another state and open up a flower shop there. She's gonna sell her company to a bigger corporation, like a Hallmark sort of deal. The company would pay for me to finish out my degree and help me set up a home." She knew she needed to talk about it, but she was scared.

Whitney let out a low whistle trying to digest all of the information. "That's insane Ash, but I mean are you going to think about it?"

Ash sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "I feel like it would be stupid to not at least consider it. I mean I don't want to move away from you or Ali. We've finally got things going right for us but you know how those things go." Ash didn't want to leave Ali. She didn't want to end whatever was going on between them.

"Just be honest with her, you know she'll want you to be happy and successful, she's a great person." Whit encouraged wanting her friend to deal with it in the healthy way. "Maybe just mention it, but we have our conference final coming up so make sure you support her and wish her luck. Don't distract my best right back too badly." Whitney knew that the college team needed Krieger focused so that they could win. 

"I'll try not to draw her focus too bad," Ash promised, breaking away from being in step with Whitney to go to Ali's classroom and wait for her. She wanted to be there with flowers when the girl got out of class. 

Ali wasn't expecting Ashlyn to be there so she almost walked right past her until she noticed the familiar face in the peripheral of her vision. Ali's eyes widened and she slowly backed up, to look at Ashlyn who was trying not to laugh. 

"Ashlyn, what are you doing here?" Ali asked, leaning up to give her girlfriend a hug.

Ashlyn held out the flowers. "I thought I'd maybe bring you some flowers and wish you luck on your big game coming up," Ashlyn said, giving her the flowers.

The tone of Ashlyn's voice seemed to give Ali pause, yet she took the flowers anyways. "Thank you for bringing me flowers and waiting for me. Do you maybe want to grab a coffee and tell me what's wrong?" 

"Nothing is wrong." Ashlyn insisted, not wanting to bring it up and ruin Ali's day. She knew they had to talk about it eventually but she wasn't sure right now was the best moment. 

The soccer player snorted softly and folded her arms over her chest, which caused her to look kind of silly due to the flowers in her hand. "Ashlyn Harris, you can't lie to me. It was you who insisted we focus on communication and being honest with each other all the time." Ali pointed out. She didn't want Ashlyn to lie to her, she wanted the florist to tell her the truth. 

"I got offered a job, but it's in another state. It's a good opportunity, but I don't want to be away from you." Ashlyn admitted, before going into detail about what the work would pay for and how the business would put her through school. "It's kind of my dream to run my own flower shop." Ashlyn sighed and buried her face in her hands. 

Ali was silent for a moment, processing and thinking about things. She didn't want Ashlyn to go either, but she supported her. Ali was getting to live her own dream by playing soccer and if she got to play professionally someday she would want Ashlyn to support her dreams. 

"I think you should take the job," Ali said after a long minute of contemplation. 

"What? What about us?" Ashlyn asked, worried that she would lose Ali if she did, in fact, decide to take the job. 

Ali placed her hand on Ashlyn's cheek and drew the former goalkeeper closer to her. "I would be a very selfish girlfriend if I didn't encourage you to follow your dreams. If we have to do long distance then we have to do long distance. I'll visit you during school breaks, and you can always come to visit me. I love you, Ash, we have something that not even distance can keep apart."

Ashlyn felt her eyes watering, aside from her grandma and Whitney nobody had ever supported her the way that Ali was doing. She had been through a lot and after losing soccer she had wanted to give up. She had been in such a dark place but Ali had come into her life at just the right time. 

"I love you too baby." Ashlyn managed to get out, tears were falling down her cheeks and Ali set out to gently kiss them away. 

Ali took her girlfriend's hand in her own and gave her a small smile. "Why don't we go out for dinner to celebrate our victories. You got a well-deserved promotion and a wonderful opportunity and I am getting to go to the college playoffs." Ali suggested a warm look in her eyes.

Being apart wasn't ideal but Ali knew in her heart that they could make it work. Ashlyn had always been so understanding for her, and so sweet. Ali certainly didn't want to break up, she wanted a future with Ashlyn. Besides depending on where the florist got to open up her new shop, if there was an NWSL team nearby then it would all work out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have the next chapter kind of outlines. I'm trying to push the story towards its conclusion. It might only have one or two more chapters left depending on how long it takes me to tie everything up in a meaningful way. I really missed you all, I appreciate every view, comment, and kudo.
> 
> \- Becks


	14. chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ending

It was almost nerve-wracking having to face down her ex once more, but Ella had come through and now Ali was just waiting for Matt to sign the paperwork. Her heart was pounding as she waited to find out if he was actually going to do it or if he was going to do some kind of last-minute dick-move. 

Taking a deep breath she took a sip of her coffee, Matt had been in the line waiting for his drink for a good five minutes. Every second that dragged on, was giving her more anxiety. Ashlyn had offered to go with her, but Ali didn't want to put her girlfriend in a position where she was going to get into an argument or confrontation. Ella had come with her but was sitting a few tables away to give Ali and Matt some privacy to hash out the details of the paperwork.

Matt finally came back after what felt like forever. “You ready to get this over with?” He asked, sitting down and pulling out a pen. He looked defeated and while Ali was relieved she was also kind of sad

Ali had never meant to hurt him, and they had been best friends once. However, the past did not make up for the hell and possessiveness he had put her through recently. Ali wanted him to be happy but she didn't want to be with him, she wanted to be with Ashlyn. Having to finally settle the divorce paperwork had put a lot of things into perspective for Ali. 

She was still bummed about Ashlyn having to possibly move away for the job opportunity but she knew that as long as they communicated and were open about their feelings they could make it work. Long distance wouldn't be easy but Ali only had to finish up college, and hopefully, she'd get picked to play professionally. Then she could try and get signed to a club team close to Ashlyn. 

Looking back at Matt, Ali watched as he finished signing his name on the paperwork. "Alright, here it is. I trust you to file it." Matt said sliding the paperwork towards her. 

"Matt I am sorry everything went down like it did, I hope you find happiness," Ali said, taking the paperwork and putting it into her folder. 

"I mean I wish things were different and I am sorry for the way I acted Ali. I wanted to be with you so badly that I let it cloud my thinking. Good luck with everything." Matt sighed and grabbed his coffee, leaving Ali sitting alone at the table. 

Ali waited until he was gone, before moving to Ella's table. "I am officially on my way to be divorced now, I just need to file the paperwork." Ali mused, relaxing in her chair. 

"I bet Ashlyn will be excited, maybe even throw another party." Ella teased, she knew how happy Ashlyn would be to have that monkey off their backs. 

"It just sucks because she'll be leaving soon and I really don't want her to go but I know this is a great opportunity for her." Ali sighed softly. She was going to do everything in her power to be supportive, but she was still going to miss her girlfriend with every fiber of her being. 

Ella nodded her head in understanding. "It's hard sometimes because Ella is always off playing for the national team and I only see her during the semesters and even then she's super busy. But I know that she is living her best life and as her girlfriend, I'm going to support her. You really just need to make every moment count." Ella checked her watch and then smiled at her. "Speaking of which I think she is getting off her shift right now, why don't you go see her." 

Ali glanced at her own watch and then nodded. "Yeah, I do want to spend as much time with her as possible." She waved goodbye to Ella and then set off in the direction of the flower shop.

\---

Ashlyn had tried to make every moment count with Ali. She took her out on dates, built forts with her, even tried to help Ali practice for her championship game. Ashlyn had allowed Ali to take some shots on goal and tried to block them. It had been a while since Ash had gotten to play but she wanted to make sure Ali was prepared. 

It was hard to sit on the sidelines sometimes, but she had done her best not to complain. There was a piece of Ashlyn that wished she could be out on the pitch, playing alongside her girlfriend and her best friends but that wasn't in her plans. Ashlyn had tried to focus her energy on being her girlfriend's biggest supporter instead. 

It was the last half of the championship game, and the score was tied at two goals apiece. Ashlyn knew Ali was working double time with Whitney to protect the keeper and the back of the next. Erin had made a lot of great saves and Ashlyn was hoping to god that they'd win. 

Truth be told Ashlyn wanted things to end on a high note for Ali, she wanted to see her happy and without any regrets. She knew a good win could really put Ali into the spotlight and on the league's radar. It was going to be extremely hard to be away from her, but Ashlyn knew that it would all be worth it. 

The game eventually went to penalties and Ashlyn sat on the edge of her seat. She could see that Ali was nervous but they had been practicing. Ashlyn held her breath, waiting to see if Ali was going to make her shot. It felt like the long minute of her life, and the world seemed to narrow to just the sight of Ali. 

As the ball hit the back of the net, Ashlyn could feel the crowd erupting around her. Her focus remained however on Ali, memorizing the look of disbelief as it slowly turned to excitement. Penn State had won the final thanks to Ali's PK, and Ashlyn watched with pride as her girlfriend hugged her teammates 

Then surprisingly Ali broke away from her friends and sprinted towards the bleachers. She jumped the barricade and threw herself at Ashlyn, kissing her as deeply as she could. Every moment counted when it felt like time was ticking away and Ali didn't want to waste even a second of it. 

\---  
"You're all packed?" Ali checked to make sure that Ashlyn had grabbed everything she would need from the apartment. It wasn't like she had really left Ashlyn's side the entire time the girl packed. It was even possible that Ali knew where more stuff was than Ashlyn. 

"Yeah, I am packed," Ashlyn said, her voice sounding a little hollow. There was a sense of dread building up in the pit of her stomach, a sadness that was eating away at her. She was still excited to be going to the West Coast, she had gotten a job as a florist in the Rose City. Which worked out for Ali if she did, in fact, get drafted to the West Coast when she was done with college, that was still a few years off though. 

Ali could sense her girlfriend's fear, being on opposite sides of the country wasn't ideal but she knew they could handle it. She didn't think them cheating on each other was even an option. "Hey, I've got you," Ali whispered soothingly, pulling the taller girl into a hug.

Ashlyn didn't want Ali taking her to the airport, so they had agreed to say their goodbyes at the apartment but it didn't make it any easier. Being apart from Ali felt like a death sentence in a lot of ways. Ashlyn just hugged her tightly, trying to breathe in her scent one last time before she had to leave. 

"I am really gonna miss you," Ash whispered, pressing a kiss to Ali's cheek. "I love you, Ali."

"I love you too Ash, and it's gonna be okay," Ali promised, rubbing her back. 

"We're meant to be," Ashlyn assured her, before finally pulling back. 

"Now go, before I kidnap you and never let you leave." Ali joked, trying to keep from crying. If she started crying, the soccer player would not be able to stop.

Ashlyn gave her a lingering look before picking up her luggage and heading out to her car. She tried her best not to look back, knowing if she did it would break her resolve. She kept trying to pep talk herself, they could make it through this. 

Ali watched from the window as Ashlyn started the car and started to drive away. She wanted nothing more than to follow after her but she knew she had to be strong.

\---  
 _-Flash forward three years-_

"With the first pick, in the first round of the college draft, the Portland Thorns select defender Ali Krieger." 

Ashlyn who had been watching on TV grinned happily as she moved about her flower shop. She had been in Portland for the past three years and knowing that her girlfriend had been selected to play there made her happy. The three years of long distance hadn't always been easy, they had gone through some rough patches but in the end, they had made it work. 

She kept glancing at the screen expecting Ali to come across and do her acceptance speech and talk about how much it meant to be playing for Portland except Ali didn't show up on the camera. Ali had told her she would be making some big speech and Ashlyn didn't want to miss it. 

Ashlyn walked back behind the counter to send a message to her girlfriend, congratulating her and asking where she was. She was just thankful Ali had got drafted to the same city. Ashlyn wouldn't have cared if it had been Utah or Seattle either, as long as her girlfriend was within driving distance. 

The door to the flower shop opened and Ashlyn ignored it, simply calling out a 'Welcome, be right with you' as she finished typing out her text message to Ali. 

"Take your time, I'm just looking for flowers for my girlfriend." The customer called out to her. 

The voice was familiar and for a moment Ashlyn was caught off guard, trying to process. 

"I need to make sure she knows that I'm home and I'm here to stay. Love is like that right Ash?"

Then Ashlyn's head snapped up at the sound of Ali's voice. She stared in disbelief as her girlfriend stood in front of her. "Ali?"

A wide smile spread across Ali's face and she wrinkled her nose. "I heard this rumor that I got drafted to Portland, and I just wanted to be here to surprise my girlfriend."

Ashlyn lept over the counter and ran towards her girlfriend, kissing her deeply. It had been a couple months since they had been together in person and it felt like far too long. 

Ali kissed her back greedily, her fingers playing with the short hairs on the back of Ashlyn's head. "I see you got a haircut." She teased. 

"Was trying something new," Ashlyn muttered, trailing a bunch of heated kisses along Ali's jaw and neck. 

"Easy there tiger, I need your help picking out flowers for my girlfriend. You see she doesn't know I'm here and I want to get her some flowers, dare her to love me." Ali had a mischevious twinkle in her eye, that made Ashlyn love her all the more. 

"You really are a wanker number eleven," Ashlyn grumbled, before mashing their lips together once more. "I love you, Ali."

Ali smiled against her lips. "I love you too baby."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's only taking me 459 days to write and finish the thing. School kind of got in the way but I did it guys, another story completed. I am sorry if the ending seemed a bit rush, I was going to do like one of those climatic runs to each other in the airport or standing on top of a car to find each other but ya know. 
> 
> Man, this story is what got me into writing fanfiction again. It feels bittersweet but hey at least they got a happy ending in Portland. I kind of fudged with the timelines because who even knows what year it is xD Besides Ashlyn totally needed to have a flower shop in Portland, it is the rose city. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the story, give me all the love and validation, please. Kudos, comments, confess your undying love for the stories, whatever works.
> 
> \- Becks


End file.
